A patent problem

Thank you for the article "Developers of Software Get Boost from Federal Patent Office," June 6. Unfortunately, the article repeats a misperception about patent law that has landed more than a few patent owners into trouble. It states that a patent owner has an exclusive right to make and sell the invention. Many inventions are covered by more than one patent, and a patent owner may be infringing someone else's patent by making, using, or selling her own patented invention. As a practicing patent attorney, I would advise any patent owner to conduct a search for other patents that one might infringe before making any sizable investment in marketing or producing an invention.

Scott R. Hansen Los Angeles

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