Title 35, PatentsRelease 119-102
§298 Advice of Counsel
Title 35 › PART III — PATENTS AND PROTECTION OF PATENT RIGHTS › CHAPTER 29 — REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT OF PATENT, AND OTHER ACTIONS › § 298
Summary
Not getting or presenting a lawyer's advice cannot be used to prove willful patent infringement or an intent to induce others to infringe.
Full Legal Text
Title 35, §298
Patents, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The failure of an infringer to obtain the advice of counsel with respect to any allegedly infringed patent, or the failure of the infringer to present such advice to the court or jury, may not be used to prove that the accused infringer willfully infringed the patent or that the infringer intended to induce infringement of the patent.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Pub. L. 112–274, § 1(a), Jan. 14, 2013, 126 Stat. 2456, provided that: “Notwithstanding section 35 of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act [Pub. L. 112–29] (35 U.S.C. 1 note), section 298 of title 35, United States Code, shall apply to any civil action commenced on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 14, 2013].” Except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 112–29, section effective upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on Sept. 16, 2011, and applicable to any patent issued on or after that
Effective Date
, see section 35 of Pub. L. 112–29, set out as an
Effective Date
of 2011 Amendment note under section 1 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
35 U.S.C. § 298
Title 35, Patents
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102