Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Sid]

Good morning, and thanks in advance for your consideration.

I have an idea to take an existing patented product, and try to sell it to completely different market / end user. The existing product is simply an active ingredient enclosed in a breathable casing. Both of the components are patented separately and are commercially available to any consumer. Due to it's simplicity, my product would have to be very similar to the existing product, but it's use would be for a completely different application and customer base.

My question is: Can I buy these ingredients and combine them into a new product without infringement?

[NJ Patent1]

Sid:  I reply under the assumption that you are not a patent attorney; and the following are informational comments, not legal advice. Apologies if you think I am "talking down".  Not intentional. 

Concerning use, if I own a patent to something (a screw, a lamp, a new chemical, a widget, anything) anybody who uses or markets that patented something is an infringer.   

You asked: "[my] question is: Can I buy these ingredients and combine them into a new product without infringement?"  As I best understand your post, I analogize it to a bicycle with a battery powered light.  If the bicycle and the light are each separately patented and you market a bicycle having a battery powered light, you would infringe both patents.

Having said that, depending on what each of the two patented items are marketed for and whether you buy from the patent owner (or authorized person), you might be be protected by a so-called "label license".  If the situation is as cut-and-dried as your question suggets and you are already aware of the relevant patents, a competent IP attorney should be able to give you a concrete answer, based on the specific facts and without further patent searching, in about 1 or 2 hours time. 

Good luck!