patent warfare

patent warfare definition - business

patent warfare

The situation of a company filing multiple patents that are only slightly different from one another in order to protect a profitable product beyond the expiration of the original patent. Patent warfare is particularly common among software companies and pharmaceutical companies.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Business Terms Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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