Originally published in Law360, September 22, 2011
Law360, New York (September 22, 2011, 1:11 PM ET) --
The patent law, through sections 35 U.S.C. §§ 271(b) and
271(c), provides a vehicle for patentees to hold indirect patent
infringers liable. Section 271(b), the focus of this article,
addresses induced infringement in very simple terms: "Whoever
actively induces infringement of a patent shall be liable as an
infringer." Section 271(c), the contributory infringement
counterpart to section 271(b), is more lengthy and includes a
knowledge element by its plain terms.1
In interpreting section 271(c), the U.S. Supreme Court held long
ago that a contributory infringer must know not only that a
component it sold be especially adapted for acts underlying the
infringement, but also that the resulting combination for which the
component was made was patented.2That is, to be liable,
a contributory infringer must, in the first place, know of the
patent whose infringement she
