Are patent rights territorial?
Patent protection applies only in the country in which the patent is granted. It gives a patent owner the right to bring an injunction to stop a third party infringing an invention protected by a patent i.e. a third party cannot use, sell, hire or import the patented products or processes without the authorisation of the owner. The case of Agilent Technologies Deutschland GmbH v Waters Ltd (2005) is a recent patent infringement decision.
