Patent Marking

 

Patent marking is described in the United States Code.  

Limitation on damages and other remedies; marking and notice 35 U.S.C. § 287(a)

(a) Patentees, and persons making, offering for sale, or selling within the United States any patented article for or under them, or importing any patented article into the United States, may give notice to the public that the same is patented, either by fixing thereon the word "patent" or the abbreviation "pat.", together with the number of the patent, or by fixing thereon the word "patent" or the abbreviation "pat." together with an address of a posting on the Internet, accessible to the public without charge for accessing the address, that associates the patented article with the number of the patent, or when, from the character of the article, this can not be done, by fixing to it, or to the package wherein one or more of them is contained, a label containing a like notice. In the event of failure so to mark, no damages shall be recovered by the patentee in any action for infringement, except on proof that the infringer was notified of the infringement and continued to infringe thereafter, in which event damages may be recovered only for infringement occurring after such notice. Filing of an action for infringement shall constitute such notice.  

General Best Practices 

1. Before a patent application is issued as a patent, the article to be patented should be marked as PATENT PENDING.  The marking should be as permanent as practically possible.  If it is not practical to mark the product, then the patent marking can be on the package.  
2. After a patent is issued, the patented article should be marked.  If the product is plastic, then  PATENT ########  should be embossed or debossed on the mold, where ######## is the patent number.  Laser engraving or screenprinting could be appropriate for wood or metal.  
3. The company product website and other advertising media should also be marked.  Typically, every product has a company website with product descriptions with a photo.  Although this is not strictly in accordance with the constructive notice provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 287(a), it is helpful for giving actual notice.  
4. Because patent rights change frequently, it may not be practical to constantly be modifying the marking on the article.  Because of this, 35 U.S.C. § 287(a) allows an online list of patents where the marking on the product and/or package is a website link.  The best practice would be to have a chart showing the patent number, product name, model numbers and sku's.   Example:   For patent information https://www.zippo.com/pages/product-patents-1
5. The patent marking relating to the above four best practices should be updated to reflect each new patent or patent application.