Royalties - Patent Royalties

Patent Royalties

A patent gives the owner an exclusive right to prevent others from practising the patented technology in the country issuing the patent for the term of the patent. The right may be enforced in a lawsuit for monetary damages and/or imprisonment for violation on the patent. In accordance with a patent licence, royalties are paid to the patent owner in exchange for the right to practise one or more of the four basic patent rights: to manufacture with, to use, to sell, or to advertise for sale of a patented technology.

Patent rights may be divided and licensed out in various ways, on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis. The licence may be subject to limitations as to time or territory. A licence may encompass an entire technology or it may involve a mere component or improvement on a technology. In the United States, "reasonable" royalties may be imposed, both after-the-fact and prospectively, by a court as a remedy for infringement.