defense of inequitable conduct

Patents. A defense to an action for patent infringement, made by charging the plaintiff with breaching the duty of candor and good faith.

• To succeed, the defendant must show that, in the patent prosecution, the plaintiff intentionally withheld material information from or misled the examiner. Inequitable conduct is a combination of two former defenses: unclean hands and fraud on the Patent Office. [Cases: Patents 97. C.J.S. Patents §§ 135–138, 145, 178.]

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