“What Constitutes Proof of the Defendant’s “Knowledge of the Patent” for Purposes of a Charge of Inducing Infringement?” Michael J. Garvin, Esq.

In order to establish patent infringement by inducing another to infringe, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271(b), the plaintiff must prove that the defendant actually knew of the subject patent. There is a great deal of case law attempting to set out the parameters of what the plaintiff must establish to prove that knowledge. In SEB S.A. v. Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc., decided on February 5, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit made that requirement somewhat easier for plaintiffs by holding that the defendant’s knowledge of the patent can be established by proving that the defendant acted with “deliberate indifference to the existence of a patent.”