Patent

A patent is a federal grant of the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing a claimed invention for a limited term. Patents do not grant the patentee an affirmative right to practice the invention, only the right to exclude others. Three principal types exist: utility patents (functional inventions, 20-year term from filing), design patents (ornamental product designs, 15-year term from issuance), and plant patents (asexually reproduced plants, 20-year term from filing).

Patentability requirements

A claimed invention must be (1) directed to patentable subject matter under § 101, generally machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, and processes, but excluding abstract ideas, laws of nature, and natural phenomena under Alice; (2) novel under § 102, not previously disclosed in the prior art; (3) non-obvious under § 103, not an obvious variation of the prior art to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention; and (4) adequately disclosed under § 112, the specification must enable a skilled artisan to make and use the invention without undue experimentation.

Prosecution

Patents are obtained through prosecution before the USPTO. The applicant files a specification (description plus claims), the examiner conducts a prior-art search and issues office actions, and the applicant responds with claim amendments and arguments. Average pendency is two to three years. Prosecution history establishes the claim scope and is binding on the applicant in subsequent litigation under the doctrines of file-wrapper estoppel and disclaimer.

Infringement and remedies

Infringement is established by showing that the accused product or method meets every limitation of at least one asserted claim, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. Remedies include actual damages no less than a reasonable royalty under § 284, treble damages for willful infringement, attorney's fees in exceptional cases under § 285, and injunctive relief. Patent damages frequently dominate IP litigation, verdicts in the hundreds of millions are not unusual in major commercial cases.

Texas patent venue

Patent infringement cases must be filed (1) in the judicial district where the defendant resides, for corporations, the state of incorporation under TC Heartland, or (2) where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business. The Eastern District of Texas was historically the dominant patent-litigation venue under pre-TC Heartland doctrine; the Western District of Texas (Waco Division) became prominent post-TC Heartland through the case-management practices of Judge Albright, before the 2022 reassignment order redistributed cases across the WDTX. Both districts remain significant patent venues.