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Current as of January 01, 2025 | Updated by Findlaw Staff
1. No person shall make a bad faith assertion of patent infringement in a demand letter.
2. A court may consider the following factors as evidence that a person has made a bad faith assertion of patent infringement in a demand letter:
(1) The demand letter does not contain the following information:
(a) The patent number;
(b) The name and address of the patent owner or owners and assignee or assignees, if any; and
(c) Factual allegations concerning the specific areas in which the target's products, services, or technology infringe the patent or are covered by the claims in the patent;
(2) The demand letter lacks the information described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, the target requests the information, and the person fails to provide the information within a reasonable period of time;
(3) The demand letter demands payment of a license fee or response within an unreasonably short period of time;
(4) The person offers to license the patent for an amount that is not based on a reasonable estimate of the value of the license;
(5) The person, company, or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates has previously presented a demand letter claiming or asserting patent infringement of the same patent under substantially the same circumstances, and a court has entered a final judgment that the demand letter presented a bad faith assertion of patent infringement;
(6) The person attempted to enforce the claim of patent infringement in litigation, and a court found the claim to be brought in bad faith; and
(7) Any other factor the court finds relevant.
3. A court may consider the following factors as evidence that a person has not made a bad faith assertion of patent infringement:
(1) The demand letter contains the information described in subdivision (1) of subsection 2 of this section;
(2) If the demand letter lacks the information described in subdivision (1) of subsection 2 of this section and the target requests the information, the person provides the information within a reasonable period of time;
(3) The person engages in a good faith effort to establish that the target has infringed the patent and to negotiate an appropriate remedy;
(4) The person makes a substantial investment in the use of the patent or in the production or sale of a product or item covered by the patent;
(5) The person is:
(a) The inventor or joint inventor holding the patent or in the case of a patent filed by and awarded to an assignee of the original inventor or joint inventor, is the original assignee; or
(b) An institution of higher education or a technology transfer organization owned or affiliated with an institution of higher education;
(6) The person has:
(a) Demonstrated good faith business practices in previous efforts to enforce the patent, or a substantially similar patent; or
(b) Successfully enforced the patent or a substantially similar patent through litigation; and
(7) Any other factor the court finds relevant.
Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Missouri Revised Statutes Title XXVI. Trade and Commerce § 416.652. Demand letters, no bad faith assertions of patent infringement--factors court may consider - last updated January 01, 2025 | https://codes.findlaw.com/mo/title-xxvi-trade-and-commerce/mo-rev-st-416-652/
FindLaw Codes may not reflect the most recent version of the law in your jurisdiction. Please verify the status of the code you are researching with the state legislature before relying on it for your legal needs.
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