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The Unreasonableness Of The Patent Office's 'Broadest Reasonable Interpretation' Standard, Christopher A. Cotropia
The Unreasonableness Of The Patent Office's 'Broadest Reasonable Interpretation' Standard, Christopher A. Cotropia
Law Faculty Publications
This article does what is long overdue: it fully explores the validity of the BRI standard. The previously articulated rationales behind the BRI standard are severely lacking. Not only does the BRI standard fail to provide the advantages touted by the courts that created the standard, the standard is contrary to both the patent statutes and the concept of a unitary patent system. It allows examiners to avoid difficult claim interpretation issues; it leads to improper and uncorrectable denials of patent protection; and it is incurably ambiguous. Given that the BRI standard is severely lacking, the courts and the USPTO …
Modernizing Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Christopher A. Cotropia
Modernizing Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Christopher A. Cotropia
Law Faculty Publications
This Article's main finding is that the inequitable conduct doctrine has the ability to improve patent quality as long as the inherent tendency to overcomply with the doctrine by overloading the USPTO with information is kept in check. The Article reaches this conclusion by proceeding in five parts. Part II describes the current thinking on the inequitable conduct doctrine, with particular focus on the major critiques of the doctrine and proposed legislative and administrative responses. Part III of the Article begins the construction of a fundamental, conceptual framework for the doctrine by explaining how it impacts both patent quality and …