Product I want to make already patented...what now?

[byronshell]

I live in Virginia. We want to make a product (Jewelry Box) but it has already been patented. The company does not want to license it. Do we have any options such as altering the product in some way. We do not wish to patent it ourselves, only to manufacture and sell. If a jewelry box is a jewelry box for the most part, if different materials or size changes enough to avoide patent infringement. Say the box rotates, if our doesn't rotate are we safe then?

I know I need a patent attorney but I'm curious in the meantime. Thanks.

 

[divgradcurl]

I live in Virginia. We want to make a product (Jewelry Box) but it has already been patented. The company does not want to license it. Do we have any options such as altering the product in some way. We do not wish to patent it ourselves, only to manufacture and sell. If a jewelry box is a jewelry box for the most part, if different materials or size changes enough to avoide patent infringement. Say the box rotates, if our doesn't rotate are we safe then?

I know I need a patent attorney but I'm curious in the meantime. Thanks.

You need a patent attorney to help you design around the patent, that's about all you can do if you want to try and avoid a patent infringement suit. It's not always possible to discern the scope of the claims from the patent itself -- oftentimes you'll need to analyze the issued patent along with it's prosecution history (the "file wrapper") and in light of current patent caselaw. That's why, if you need a noninfringement opinion or help designing around a patent, it's critical to have a patent attorney to guide you. You'll want a patent attorney, not a patent agent, for this process.