Patent Marking

Once a patent application is filed, the applicant can mark articles with the terms ''patent applied for'' or ''patent pending.'' Because patent protection does not start until a patent is granted, these phrases have no legal effect but merely give notice that a patent application has been filed. Once a patent is granted the patentee may mark articles with the word ''patent'' and the number of the patent, for example, ''Patent No. 5,586,991.'' Although patent owners are not required to mark their inventions or articles, the patentee may not recover damages from an infringer unless the infringer was duly notified of the infringement and continued to infringe thereafter. Marking the invention constitutes notice such that the patentee ...

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