Are Patents Made in the U.S. Valid Internationally?

[Jane Little]

Are Patents Made in the U.S. Valid Internationally?

[MacKenzie Brown]

Patents registered in the U.S. or made by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are only valid in the country (U.S.).

A U.S. patented product gives its owner an exclusionary right. The owner has all the rights to exclude others from making or reproducing the product in the U.S. It is also up to the owner to exclude others from importing products registered in the U.S.

So if an Asian company engineers a product in Asia and sells it in Asia only, it is not the concern of the U.S. patent. Although there are many countries with patents, an international system has been developed to have a patent registered in a country that is valid to all countries.

Summary of the 35 U.S. Code § 271 – Infringement of patent:

Manufacturing, selling, processing or using a U.S.patented product in another country does not infringe the United States patent. The U.S. law cannot govern in other countries and the patentee’s best reference are therefore the laws of the relevant foreign country. If the patented product from another country is brought into the United States, The U.S. has the authority over it.

Hope this helps!

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