These rights exist to remedy potential unfairness of a broadening reissue application. That is to say, claims in a patent are supposed to give notice to the world what the invention is and what the invention isn't. Third parties should be able to reasonably rely on those claims. It would be extremely unfair if a party spent substantial resources avoiding infringement of the original claims, and then the applicant later broadened those claims to include the very activity that was previously considered non-infringing.
Intervening rights exist to remedy this situation: If, prior to a broadening reissue, a person or corporation had made, used, purchased, imported, or offered to sell a product that did not infringe the original set of claims, that person or corporation may continue to use that product, or may sell it to someone else or offer it for sale, even if doing so would infringe the broadened claims.
Note that these rights do not extend to anyone who made no investments in infringing activity until after the date of the reissue.
Intervening rights exist to remedy this situation: If, prior to a broadening reissue, a person or corporation had made, used, purchased, imported, or offered to sell a product that did not infringe the original set of claims, that person or corporation may continue to use that product, or may sell it to someone else or offer it for sale, even if doing so would infringe the broadened claims.
Note that these rights do not extend to anyone who made no investments in infringing activity until after the date of the reissue.
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