Many inventions have two or more inventors, and many patents exist whose ownership is shared by two or more distinct entities. Neither joint inventorship nor joint ownership prevents a patent from being enforceable. This is not true, however, of joint infringement. Patents can indeed be found on methods that include two or more steps that can be individually performed by separate entities. Nevertheless, joint infringement, also known as divided infringement, is not a recognized form of infringement, because the patent courts hold that infringement only occurs when all steps of a claimed method are performed or attributable to a single entity.
Date
March, 2017