Legal Question in Business Law in California

cont.: Patent infringement

Thank you for your answer to ''Patent infringement'' question. I added another question at the bottom. Please advice. Thank you.

The original question was: ''I am an importer. One retailer gave me a procuct sample and told me the patent had expired.I contacted a manufacturer in asia to make the product and offered the retailer the product.

Now the retailer told me that he was sued by the patent owner. I find out the patent will expire on March 2003.

I run a small private company. Serveral years of hard work, am I running into trouble? Please advise.''

I would like to consult another issue: is there any protection if we change our private company to L.L.C., Small Corp. or Inc. in such a condition?


Asked on 7/06/02, 1:19 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Amy Ghosh Law Offices of Amy Ghosh

Re: cont.: Patent infringement

Please contact me directly...I need more info before I advise

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Answered on 7/07/02, 12:07 am
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: cont.: Patent infringement

I supplied an answer to the original question. In my opinion, forming an LLC or incorporating AFTER infringing a patent is like locking the barn door after the horse is stolen.

However, as I said before, you have some pretty good defenses to any infringement suit, and unless the patent owner has sustained significant damages the chances are fairly good that you can settle any dispute with the patent owner quickly and inexpensively by negotiation and/or a promise not to infringe in the future.

The party that misinformed you about the patent status should bear the liability, if you have proof.

Finally, if you are operating as a proprietorship or general partnership, you should consider converting to an LLC or corporation for future liability protection. Consult a business lawyer about the choice of business organization to use and the advantages and disadvantages of each, which include (when properly used) substantial insulation from personal liability.

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Answered on 7/08/02, 1:34 pm


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