Protecting semiconductor device and fabrication process inventions can be challenging. This is because showing that such inventions are being use by others often requires reverse engineering, a process that is costly and time consuming and that may not even show that an invention is being used. Patent drafters who do not fully understand the underlying technology can thus make enforcement of valuable semiconductor IP very difficult. In this article, Finnegan attorneys Doris J. Hines and Howard Herr discuss several issues relating to semiconductor patent enforcement, and several factors to consider when drafting semiconductor patent applications with an eye towards enforcement.
Published by ECN Magazine
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