Field of Use Limitation Law and Legal Definition
Field of use limitation refers to a provision in a patent license that limits the scope of a patent owner to authorize a manufacturing licensee who manufactures a patented product or performs a patented process. Field of use limitation also specifies those fields of use from which a licensee is excluded.
A licensee’s act amounts to patent infringement if the licensee exceeds the scope of license granted. In patent licenses, field of use limitations may raise antitrust issues when such arrangements are used to allocate markets or create cartels.[General Talking Pictures Corp. v. Western Electric Co., 304 U.S. 175 (U.S. 1938)]
