Issue:
An IP attorney for a consumer electronics company informed Nerac that they were ready to ship product and had sent samples to a retail chain and had received a concerning response. The retail chain informed the Nerac client that they were worried that the packaging might infringe on a patent that was owned by another company (XYZ). The IP attorney needed Nerac’s help determining if there was any validity to the retail chain’s concerns.
Approach:
The analyst team took a multi-phased approach. The initial investigation established that no patents were directly assigned to XYZ company. Further research involved exploring trademark data and news articles to find the names of the principals of company. Searching by each of the owners of company XYZ, a patent was discovered that claimed elements of packaging similar in detail to the package the client had sent to the retail chain. Analysis of the patent at the United States Patent and Trademark office revealed that the patent was no longer in force due to failure to pay maintenance fees. The final risk assessment involved searching the company at the New York Secretary of State Office where it was determined that company XYZ was no longer in business.
Results:
Details of the discovery path and results were discussed by phone with the IP attorney. Based on Nerac’s research, the attorney concluded that there was minimal risk using the original packaging and communicated to the production team and retail chain that it was safe to ship the product, saving the company from having to go through the cost of a redesign.
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