Weiss & Moy, P.C.

The patent attorneys at Weiss & Moy, P.C. are able to perform a patent infringement analysis by comparing a particular product to the claims in an issued patent. A patent infringement analysis can often be an important step in avoiding costly patent litigation. Before releasing a product into the marketplace, it may be beneficial to have the patent attorneys at Weiss & Moy, P.C. determine whether your product may infringe upon the valid patent rights of another party. The patent infringement analysis that we provide may reveal that your product does not infringe your competitor’s valid patent rights, which will allow you to release your product into the marketplace with confidence. Alternatively, a patent infringement analysis may indicate how to “design around” an existing patent in order to avoid patent infringement. Finally, we may advise you not to release your product without first acquiring or licensing a third party’s patent.

In the event of patent litigation, reliance on a patent infringement opinion letter from the patent attorneys at Weiss & Moy, P.C. may be used to defeat an opponent’s claim of willful patent infringement -- a charge that, if successful, could result in treble (triple) damages for patent infringement. Alternatively, a recent Federal Circuit case ruled that the act of invoking attorney-client privilege in order to refuse to divulge what may be an undesirable opinion letter cannot result in an adverse inference (see Knorr-Bremse Systems Fuer Kutzfahrzuege GMBH v. Dana Corp, 383 F.3d 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2004). In other words, a company essentially has nothing to lose by asking their patent counsel to perform a patent infringement analysis since a positive clearance opinion can later be used to defend against willful patent infringement, and a negative clearance opinion can properly be held in confidence by the client pursuant to the attorney-client privilege without any negative or adverse inference.

At Weiss & Moy, P.C., our patent attorneys have prepared numerous patent infringement opinions for our clients who operate in competitive fields. Our fee for performing a patent infringement analysis can be anywhere from $5000 to $25,000, or more, depending on the complexity of the field, the number of products and patents involved, and various other factors.