35 USC § 284 - Damages

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Upon finding for the claimant the court shall award the claimant damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the infringer, together with interest and costs as fixed by the court.

When the damages are not found by a jury, the court shall assess them. In either event the court may increase the damages up to three times the amount found or assessed. Increased damages under this paragraph shall not apply to provisional rights under section 154 (d) of this title.

The court may receive expert testimony as an aid to the determination of damages or of what royalty would be reasonable under the circumstances.

Source

(July 19, 1952, ch. 950, 66 Stat. 813; Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(9) [title IV, § 4507(9)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A–566.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on Title 35, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §§ 67 and 70, part (R.S. 4919; R.S. 4921, amended (1) Mar. 3, 1897, ch. 391, § 6,29 Stat. 694, (2) Feb. 18, 1922, ch. 58, § 8,42 Stat. 392, (3) Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 726, § 1,60 Stat. 778).

This section consolidates the provisions relating to damages in R.S. 4919 and 4921, with some changes in language.

Amendments

1999—Second par. Pub. L. 106–113inserted at end “Increased damages under this paragraph shall not apply to provisional rights under section 154 (d) of this title.”

Effective Date of 1999 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 106–113effective Nov. 29, 2000, and applicable only to applications (including international applications designating the United States) filed on or after that date, see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, § 4508] of Pub. L. 106–113, as amended, set out as a note under section 10 of this title.

The table below lists the classification updates, since Jan. 7, 2011, for this section. Updates to a broader range of sections may be found at the update page for containing chapter, title, etc.

The most recent Classification Table update that we have noticed was Friday, May 13, 2011

An empty table indicates that we see no relevant changes listed in the classification tables. If you suspect that our system may be missing something, please double-check with the Office of the Law Revision Counsel.

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"nt" means note.
"nt [tbl]" means note [table].
"prec" means preceding.
"fr" means a transfer from another section.
"to" means a transfer to another section.
"omitted" means the section is omitted.
"repealed" means the section is repealed.
"nt ed change" and "ed change" - See the Editorial Classification Change Table [pdf].

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General Reference

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Refer to the Thomas site for changes that have not yet made it into the classification tables.

35 USC	Description of Change	Session Year	Public Law	Statutes at Large

35 USC § 284 - Damages

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