infringe meaning and examples

Meaning

Infringe means to violate, break, or act against a rule, law, or someone’s rights.
It often refers to legal or moral violations, such as infringing on copyrights, patents, or personal freedoms.

Grammar and Usage

• Part of Speech: Verb (usually transitive)
• Common structures:
  • infringe + law/right/rule
  • infringe on/upon + right/freedom/privacy

Notes:

• “Infringe” without a preposition is used when referring directly to laws or regulations.
  → He infringed the company’s rules.
• “Infringe on/upon” is used when referring to intangible things like rights or freedoms.
  → That law infringes on our freedom of speech.

Common Phrases

• infringe the law – break a law or regulation
• infringe on someone’s rights – violate someone’s rights
• copyright infringement – the act of using someone’s creative work without permission
• patent infringement – unauthorized use of a patented invention

Collocations

Examples

1. The company was sued for infringing a patent owned by another firm.
2. Such actions infringe on individual privacy.
3. Copying music without permission infringes copyright laws.
4. He claimed that the new regulation infringes upon his freedom of expression.
5. The court decided that the advertisement did not infringe any trademarks.
6. Governments must ensure that security measures do not infringe on human rights.
7. Downloading pirated movies infringes copyright and is illegal.
8. She was accused of infringing the company’s code of conduct.

Synonyms or Related

• violate
• breach
• transgress
• contravene
• encroach (on)
• trespass (on)

Antonym

• comply (with)
• obey
• respect
• uphold