IP Intelligence › Myths › My patent was granted, so I can sell my product safely.
Patent myth
“My patent was granted, so I can sell my product safely.”
A patent is a right to stop others. It says nothing about whether you are free to sell. Somebody else may hold a broader right your product falls inside.
Patents are layered. Your improvement can be patentable and still practise somebody else's earlier invention. Whether you can sell is a freedom-to-operate question, answered by reading claims in force in the countries where you plan to sell - a completely different exercise from the patentability search you did before filing.
Freedom to operate problems are cheap to solve before tooling and very expensive to solve after launch.
Sources & further reading
- The Patents Act, 1970 (consolidated to 1 August 2024) — Official IP India text
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Before launching a product
Your own patent tells you what others may not do. It never tells you what you may do. This checklist is about the second question.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.