Let us say I have purchased a patented jam donut printer. The printer and the process of printing the donuts are patented. The printer only makes round donuts. Let us imagine that I write new firmware to run the printer and using this I can now print donuts of any shape I like. Thus, my firmware performs the actions of the manufacturer's firmware plus other actions.
Questions:
* Does my new firmware constitute a patent infringement? It coordinates donut printing (a patented process) but on its own is useless and requires the printer.
* Does the situation change if I give away the firmware to my donut-eating friends so they can use it on their printers?
* What if one of my friends takes my firmware and with it builds their own donut printer. They have violated the patent, but am I liable also?
Questions:
* Does my new firmware constitute a patent infringement? It coordinates donut printing (a patented process) but on its own is useless and requires the printer.
* Does the situation change if I give away the firmware to my donut-eating friends so they can use it on their printers?
* What if one of my friends takes my firmware and with it builds their own donut printer. They have violated the patent, but am I liable also?
Is Modifying Part of a Patented Device an Infringement
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