Last updated: August 17, 2026

What Limits Do Patents Have?

The extent of a patentee's right is only governed by two factors: whether it adheres to the laws of the land and whether it impacts the rights of others.

A patentee, merely because they have received a patent for an invention, is not thereby authorized to make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import the invention if doing so would violate any law. An inventor of a new automobile who has obtained a patent thereon would not be entitled to use the patented automobile in violation of the laws of a state requiring a license, nor may a patentee sell an article, the sale of which may be forbidden by a law, merely because a patent has been obtained.

Neither may a patentee make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import their own invention if doing so would infringe the prior rights of others. A patentee may not violate the federal antitrust laws (such as by resale price agreements or entering into combination in restraints of trade) or the pure food and drug laws by virtue of having a patent. Ordinarily there is nothing that prohibits a patentee from making, using, offering for sale, or selling, importing their own invention, unless they thereby infringe on another’s patent which is still in force. For example, a patent for an improvement of an original device already patented would be subject to the existing patent on the device.

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