Legal Definitions - bad-faith enforcement

Bad-faith enforcement is a term used in patents. It refers to the act of a patent owner filing a lawsuit against someone for infringing their patent, even though they know that the accused product or process does not infringe or that the patent is invalid or unenforceable.

For example, if a company owns a patent for a specific type of technology, but they know that another company is not using that technology in their product, they may still file a lawsuit against that company for patent infringement. This would be considered bad-faith enforcement.

In an infringement action, a counterclaim can be made alleging that the patent owner knew that the accused product or process does not infringe or that the patent is invalid or unenforceable at the time of filing the lawsuit.

A counterclaim for bad-faith enforcement can be made under § 2 of the Sherman Act and under the common law of unfair competition. This means that the patent owner could face legal consequences for their actions.