patent pending

[mackk123]

What is the name of your state? arizona
i have been selling a dog product i designed on my website for almost a year. this week i received a letter stating that my product infinged on her clients and that they have had a patent pending since 2001. do i have to cease and desist sales of my product in 15 days as they state? i have paperwork showing i had a patent search done on my product in 1999. due to the cost i never started a patent application. i did some digging and found out who this is and her product is similar but not completely identitical. i can't afford an expensive legal battle.

 

[divgradcurl]

If they only have a patent pending, then there is no infringement, period. A patentee gets no rights until and if the patent actually issues. If their patent has not yet issued, they have nothing they can enforce against you.

If they filed a patent application in 2001, the application may be available from the USPTO -- you can go to the USPTO website and search for published applications, although if they didn't file for foreign protection as well its possible that the application is not public.

Basically, if they don't have a patent, there's nothing to enforce -- make sure they don't have a patent issued, however, because if they do have an issued patent and they've notified you, then you could be on the hook for enhanced damages if you were to be sued and foung liable for patent infringement.

Basically, "patent pending" has no legal significance, confers no rights or obligations -- its only use is for advertising. It doesn't even serve to provide notice that a device may be patented.

In your case, it wouldn't hurt to check the USPTO website to see if their patent has issued, or if not, if the application is public (generally applications are published after 18 months, but there are exceptions). If the patent application is published, you can use the application number to look up the current status of the patent on the USPTO website (the PALM section). Until their patent issues, you have nothing to worry about.

Once it does issue, however, you'll need to talk with a patent lawyer...