PRIA Logo™
Take the PRIA Score
Title 35 — PatentsRelease 119-73

§284 Damages

Title 35 › Part PART III— - PATENTS AND PROTECTION OF PATENT RIGHTS › Chapter CHAPTER 29— - REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT OF PATENT, AND OTHER ACTIONS › § 284

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

If a court finds someone infringed a patent, the patent owner must get money to make up for the harm. The award must be enough to compensate the owner, but at minimum it must include a fair royalty for the infringer’s use of the invention, plus interest and the court’s costs. If a jury does not decide the amount, the judge will. The judge can raise the award to as much as three times the amount found or decided, but that extra amount does not apply to provisional rights under section 154(d). The court can hear expert witnesses to help figure the damages or what a fair royalty would be.

Full Legal Text

Title 35, §284

Patents — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

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

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

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.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2011—Second par. Pub. L. 112–29 struck out “of this title” after “154(d)”. 1999—Second par. Pub. L. 106–113 inserted at end “Increased damages under this paragraph shall not apply to provisional rights under section 154(d) of this title.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2011 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 112–29 effective upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on Sept. 16, 2011, and applicable to proceedings commenced on or after that

Effective Date

, see section 20(l) of Pub. L. 112–29, set out as a note under section 2 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1999 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 106–113 effective 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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

35 U.S.C. § 284

Title 35 — Patents

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73