Legal Definitions - reasonable-apprehension test

The reasonable-apprehension test is a legal analysis used to determine if there is a justifiable dispute between a patent holder and someone accused of infringing on their patent. The test has two parts:

1. The patent holder must make it clear that they intend to sue for infringement.
2. The accused party must be engaged in an activity that could be considered infringement or be preparing to engage in such activity.

If either of these elements is uncertain or not yet happening, the court will not consider the complaint.

Imagine that a company holds a patent for a new type of phone case. If they send a letter to another company that makes phone cases, threatening to sue for infringement, that would satisfy the first element of the reasonable-apprehension test. If the other company is already making phone cases that are similar to the patented design, or if they are actively working on developing such a case, that would satisfy the second element. In this case, there would be a justifiable dispute between the two companies.