What is Efficient Infringement?

What is efficient infringement? According to Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP), efficient infringement occurs when a company deliberately chooses to infringe a patent because it is cheaper to fight off a legal challenge from an inventor than it is to license the patent. This practice is especially harmful to small inventors and innovators and it undermines our broader innovation economy.

CPIP further explains: “[Efficient infringement] frustrates the promise of the reward to the innovator for one’s inventive labors. Once inventors know that the deck of (legal) cards is stacked against them and that they will suffer efficient infringement, they will create less patentable innovation. Without legal security in stable and effective property rights, venture capitalists will not invest in inventors or startups and the innovation economy will suffer.”

Watch the video below to learn more.

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