A competitor has a patent pending on my technology

弁理士

Hi,

This issue really needs to be discussed with an attorney at length for specific legal advice. It will be a complicated question to answer with several possible threads for you to pursue (in conjunction or individually). First, please note that the US is first to file now, so I'm assuming they filed first and have priority.

In general, one could approach this in three ways: try to get a license from them if they get a patent (perhaps cross license agreements), attack them now from obtaining a patent (hire an attorney to do third party submissions if possible or post grant procedures), or work around them (and/or file in the "area" with patentable differences).

Depending on the facts, you may have a defense of prior commercial use, so they can't prevent you from doing what you've been doing even if they get a patent. That would need exploration. It's a very fact specific inquiry.

Also, please note that willful infringe is treble damages, so that needs exploration.

In short, hire an attorney to go over the options you may have depending on the specific facts of your situation.

Hope this helps!
Mary