fraud on the Patent Office

Patents. A defense in a patent-infringement action, attacking the validity of the patent on the grounds that the patentee gave the examiner false or misleading information or withheld relevant information that the examiner would have considered important in considering patentability.

• The scope of prohibited acts is wider than that covered by common-law fraud, and today the defense is generally called “inequitable conduct before the PTO.” If the defense is established, the entire patent is rendered unenforceable. See defense of inequitable conduct under DEFENSE(1). [Cases: Patents 97. C.J.S. Patents §§ 135–138, 145, 178.]

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词条贡献者

译者Natalie，在一家西班牙律师事务所的北京办公室担任全职法律翻译，擅长翻译涉及医疗健康领域的法律文件。