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What's Wrong With The Patent System? Fuzzy Boundaries And The Patent Tax, James Bessen, Michael J. Meurer Jun 2007

What's Wrong With The Patent System? Fuzzy Boundaries And The Patent Tax, James Bessen, Michael J. Meurer

Faculty Scholarship

The annual number of patent lawsuits filed in the U.S. has roughly tripled from 1970 to 2004. The number of suits was more or less steady in the 1970s, climbed slowly in the 1980s, and exploded in the 1990s. Why? The usual answers point to (1) the growth of the “new economy” and the concomitant explosion of patenting, (2) the failure of the Patent Office to reject patents on old or obvious inventions, or (3) the rise of the patent troll. There is an element of truth in all these answers, but even collectively they do a poor job explaining …


An Empirical Look At Software Patents, James Bessen, Robert M. Hunt Mar 2007

An Empirical Look At Software Patents, James Bessen, Robert M. Hunt

Faculty Scholarship

U.S. legal changes have made it easier to obtain patents on inventions that use software. Software patents have grown rapidly and now comprise 15 percent of all patents. They are acquired primarily by large manufacturing firms in industries known for strategic patenting; only 5 percent belong to software publishers. The very large increase in software patent propensity over time is not adequately explained by changes in R&D investments, employment of computer programmers, or productivity growth. The residual increase in patent propensity is consistent with a sizeable rise in the cost effectiveness of software patents during the 1990s. We find evidence …


Software Licenses Through The Bankruptcy Looking Glass: Drafting Individually Negotiated Software Licenses That Protect The Client's Interests In Bankruptcy, Jennifer S. Bisk Mar 2007

Software Licenses Through The Bankruptcy Looking Glass: Drafting Individually Negotiated Software Licenses That Protect The Client's Interests In Bankruptcy, Jennifer S. Bisk

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Ants, Elephant Guns, And Statutory Subject Matter, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga Jan 2007

Ants, Elephant Guns, And Statutory Subject Matter, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga

Law Faculty Publications

Questions about whether software qualifies for patent protection are becoming increasingly more prevalent, despite the fact the issue seemed settled. The Supreme Court has indicated its interest in the topic and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office-which had previously been liberally issuing patents in the computer-related arts-now appears to be leading the groundswell against the subject-matter eligibility of these inventions, rejecting an increasing number of applications in this area for lack of statutory subject matter. Despite the broad definitions of patentable subject matter provided by the Constitution, Patent Act, and Supreme Court, the Patent Office has grafted various additional requirements …


Keep Your Eye On Your Ball: Patent Holders' Evolving Duty To Patrol The Marketplace For Infringement, Aaron B. Rabinowitz Jan 2007

Keep Your Eye On Your Ball: Patent Holders' Evolving Duty To Patrol The Marketplace For Infringement, Aaron B. Rabinowitz

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Choosing Between The Advice Of Counsel Defense To Willful Patent Infringement Or The Effective Assistance Of Trial Counsel: A Bridge Or The Troubled Waters, Christopher A. Harkins Jan 2007

Choosing Between The Advice Of Counsel Defense To Willful Patent Infringement Or The Effective Assistance Of Trial Counsel: A Bridge Or The Troubled Waters, Christopher A. Harkins

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

Trouble is brewing for patent infringement defendants who use lawyers from one law firm to act as trial counsel and other lawyers from the same or different firm (albeit perfectly screened off from the trial team) to prepare a non-infringement opinion as an advice of counsel defense to allegations of willful infringement. The 2006 Federal Circuit decision in EchoStar has set off a veritable feeding frenzy of attacks by patentees' counsel on the most sacred of attorney client communications and work product: that of trial counsel. In a case of first impression, one federal court has even granted a motion …


National Cable & Telecommunications Association V. Brand X Internet Services: Resolving Irregularities In Regulation?, Amy L. Signaigo Jan 2007

National Cable & Telecommunications Association V. Brand X Internet Services: Resolving Irregularities In Regulation?, Amy L. Signaigo

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Is Apple Playing Fair? Navigating The Ipod Fairplay Drm Controversy, Nicola F. Sharpe, Olufunmilayo B. Arewa Jan 2007

Is Apple Playing Fair? Navigating The Ipod Fairplay Drm Controversy, Nicola F. Sharpe, Olufunmilayo B. Arewa

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Illinois Tool Works: Allocating The Burden Of Proving Market Power In Patent Tying Cases, Dennis J. Abdelnour Jan 2007

Illinois Tool Works: Allocating The Burden Of Proving Market Power In Patent Tying Cases, Dennis J. Abdelnour

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Extra-Judicial Decision Making For Drug Safety And Risk Management: Evidence From The Fda, Hazel Mcmullin, Andrew B. Whitford Jan 2007

Extra-Judicial Decision Making For Drug Safety And Risk Management: Evidence From The Fda, Hazel Mcmullin, Andrew B. Whitford

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Times May Have Changed, But The Song Is Still The Same: Why The Supreme Court Was Incorrect To Stray From Sony's Reasoning In Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. V. Grokster, Ltd., Julie A. Wooten Jan 2007

Times May Have Changed, But The Song Is Still The Same: Why The Supreme Court Was Incorrect To Stray From Sony's Reasoning In Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. V. Grokster, Ltd., Julie A. Wooten

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Overcoming The Achilles Heel Of Copyright Law, Haochen Sun Jan 2007

Overcoming The Achilles Heel Of Copyright Law, Haochen Sun

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.


Software Patents, Incumbents, And Entry, John R. Allison, Abe Dunn, Ronald J. Mann Jan 2007

Software Patents, Incumbents, And Entry, John R. Allison, Abe Dunn, Ronald J. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

Software patents have been controversial since the days when "software" referred to the crude programs that came free with an IBM mainframe. Different perspectives have been presented in judicial, legislative, and administrative fora over the years, and the press has paid as much attention to this issue as it has to any other intellectual property topic during this time. Meanwhile, a software industry developed and has grown to a remarkable size, whether measured by revenues or profitability, number of firms or employees, or research expenditures. The scope of software innovation has become even broader, as an increasing number of devices …


The Disputed Quality Of Software Patents, John R. Allison, Ronald J. Mann Jan 2007

The Disputed Quality Of Software Patents, John R. Allison, Ronald J. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

We analyze the characteristics of the patents held by firms in the software industry. Unlike prior researchers, we rely on the examination of individual patents to determine which patents involve software inventions. This method of identifying the relevant patents is more laborious than the methods that previous scholars have used, but it produces a data set from which we can learn more about the role of patents in the software industry. In general, we find that patents the computer technology firms obtain on software inventions have more prior art references, claims, and forward citations than the patents that the same …