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Reference.org
Doctrine of equivalents
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<p>The doctrine of equivalents is a legal rule in many (but not all) of the world's <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> systems that allows a <a href="/facts/Court/QuVoTFmh">court</a> to hold a party liable for <a href="/facts/Patent_infringement/7vH9JvMF">patent infringement</a> if the infringing device or process does not fall within the literal scope of a <a href="/facts/Claim_(patent)/McdXG3Fr">patent claim</a> but is nevertheless equivalent to the claimed <a href="/facts/Invention/P3LdUHBY">invention</a>. In the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>, Judge <a href="/facts/Learned_Hand/5VKLqb7V">Learned Hand</a> has described its purpose as being "to temper unsparing logic and prevent an infringer from stealing the benefit of the invention." </p>