Legal Definitions - direct infringement

Direct infringement refers to the unauthorized act of directly violating one of the exclusive rights granted to the owner of a patent, copyright, or trademark.

In simpler terms, it means someone performs an action that only the intellectual property owner is legally allowed to do, without getting permission first. The specific actions that constitute direct infringement vary depending on the type of intellectual property:

• For patents, direct infringement occurs when someone, without authorization, makes, uses, sells, offers to sell, or imports a patented invention within the United States during the patent's active term.
• For copyrights, it happens when someone, without authorization, reproduces, distributes, publicly displays, or publicly performs a copyrighted work, or creates a new work based on it (a "derivative work").
• For trademarks, direct infringement involves using a registered mark (or an unregistered mark in commerce) in connection with goods or services in a way that is likely to confuse consumers, making them believe there's an affiliation, connection, or sponsorship that doesn't exist.

Here are some examples to illustrate direct infringement:

• Example 1 (Patent Infringement): A small electronics manufacturer develops a new smartphone charging cable that incorporates a unique, patented fast-charging circuit design owned by a larger technology company. Without obtaining a license or permission from the patent holder, the small manufacturer begins mass-producing and selling these cables under its own brand name.

  This illustrates direct infringement because the small manufacturer is "making" and "selling" a product that directly uses a patented invention without authorization from the patent owner.

• Example 2 (Copyright Infringement): A local community theater group decides to put on a performance of a popular, recently released play. Instead of purchasing the necessary performance rights from the playwright's agent, they simply download a script found online and stage the play for paying audiences.

  This demonstrates direct infringement because the theater group is "performing" a copyrighted work publicly without obtaining the required permission or license from the copyright holder.

• Example 3 (Trademark Infringement): A new beverage company launches a line of energy drinks called "Zoom! Energy" and uses a logo featuring a stylized lightning bolt that is nearly identical in color, font, and design to the well-known "Zing! Power" energy drink brand, which has been on the market for years.

  This is an example of direct infringement because the new company is using a mark ("Zoom! Energy" and its logo) that is confusingly similar to a registered trademark ("Zing! Power" and its logo) in connection with similar goods, which is likely to cause consumers to mistakenly believe the products are from the same source or are affiliated.