Patent Law

The second edition of Patent Law: Fundamentals of Doctrine and Policy provides a remarkably accessible yet robust introduction to patent law and its practical application. Written in a straightforward style, the authors focus on providing a deep understanding of doctrine and policy without "hiding the ball" in ways that can hinder student comprehension. The book will appeal to students who have scientific and technical backgrounds or prior patent experience, as well as students who simply have an interest in technology and innovation and seek a well-rounded legal education. The book teaches all the core patent statutes and doctrines in the United States patent system. The authors employ several pedagogical methods to ensure students' mastery of each topic. At the outset of each chapter and section are detailed explanations of the black letter law. When new concepts are introduced, the text provides examples and explanations along with diagrams and illustrations. Case law is edited to emphasize legal principles and avoid excessive technological complexities. Updates to the second edition include: Dozens of new case discussions to bring the legal content up to date; Revamped presentation of novelty to further emphasize AIA law over pre-AIA law; Added examples, explanations, and practice questions to reinforce understanding; Increased internal cross-referencing to highlight relationships between discussions across the text; Reordering of topic coverage to enhance comprehension; and Further editing and editorializing of cases to focus on salient points of law.

Explains how the tailoring of injunctions in patent law works in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Israel.

"This text addresses critical and timely questions in patent law from a truly global perspective, with contributions from leading patent law scholars from various countries and various disciplines. The rich scholarship featured reflects on a wide range of perspectives, offering insights and new approaches to evaluating key institutional, economic, doctrinal, and practical issues that are at the forefront of efforts to reform the global patent system, and to reconfigure geo-political interests in on-going multilateral, trilateral, and bilateral initiatives".--

Scientific and technological innovations are forcing patent law into the spotlight and revealing its many glaring inadequacies. Take, for example, the patent case that almost shut down the BlackBerry, or the growing phenomenon of patent trolling, in which patents are acquired for the sole purpose of entrapping companies whose products relate to them. And patents on genes have everyone up in arms—and our courts confused. Robin Feldman explains why patents are causing so much trouble. The problem lies in our assumption that patents set clear boundaries for rights to an invention. In reality, they do no such thing. The very nature of inventions makes them impossible to describe unambiguously for all time. When something is so new that we do not understand yet how it works, what it is capable of doing, or how it could be applied—as is often the case in biotechnology—description is necessarily slippery. Instead of hoping for clear boundaries, and moaning when we don’t get them, Rethinking Patent Law urges lawmakers to focus on what the law can do well: craft rules that anticipate the bargaining that will occur as rights unfold. By steering clear of laws that distort the bargaining process, lawmakers can help courts answer difficult questions, such as whether genes, software, and business methods constitute patentable subject matter, whether patents in the life sciences should control inventions that have yet to be discovered, and how to resolve the battles between pharmaceutical companies and generics.

This two volume looseleaf treatise offers procedural guidance to the Patent Act, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Rules, and the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. The work provides substantive analysis of the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act, new patent interference rules, and the differences between U.S. and foreign patent law.