The extraterritorial reach of patent law. A comparative review of divided patent infringement across borders

Abstract

The massive rise in the amount of inventions within the field of information technology has caused problems with patent infringement across borders. These types of inventions are not limited by national borders in the same way as more tangible products. The basic rule for a patent is that all claims of the patent have to be performed inside the country where the invention is protected. If some of the patent claims are performed in another jurisdiction, it might not constitute infringement. By looking at international legislation and court cases, this thesis highlights some possible solutions to the problems with divided patent infringement across national borders.