New Way of Marking Patented Products

To ensure damages for patent infringement can be obtained, it is important to make others aware that your product is patented. Currently this may be done by marking a product with the word “patent” or “patented”, and, as required by the Patents Act 1977, with the number of the relevant patent or patents. New law, to be introduced by the Intellectual Property Act 2014, will enable the patent owner to mark the patented product with a relevant internet link instead of the patent number or numbers. The internet link must be a reference to an address of a posting on the internet that is (a) accessible to the public free of charge, and (b) clearly associates the product with the number of the patent. This could be particularly helpful in situations where a product is covered by several patents and patent applications. A change in the status of a patent or patent application would then only require the internet posting to be updated and would no longer require changes to be made to the markings on the products themselves. The provisions in the Intellectual Property Act will start to come into force from 1 October 2014.

If you have any questions concerning the above, please get in touch with your usual contact at Swindell & Pearson Ltd or Paul Chapman at [email protected]. Paul divides his time between our offices in Derby and Sheffield.