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Untapped Inventive Potential In U.S. Communities, Michael Meehan
Untapped Inventive Potential In U.S. Communities, Michael Meehan
Michael Meehan PhD
This paper combines the 2000 U.S. Census data and the National Bureau of Economic Research’s (NBER) Patent Citation Data File in order to analyze how certain community-level population and community factors correlate with overall patenting and relative rates of assigned and unassigned patenting. Among the interesting findings discussed are that, in addition to the fact that overall patenting increased with higher populations of employed people, higher populations of people with either terminal undergraduate or master’s degrees, and higher median income, the overall rates of patenting decreased, and did not merely remain the level, as the other sectors of a communities’ …
Increasing Certainty And Harnessing Private Information In The U.S. Patent System: A Proposal For Reform, Michael Meehan
Increasing Certainty And Harnessing Private Information In The U.S. Patent System: A Proposal For Reform, Michael Meehan
Michael Meehan PhD
Nearly half of litigated patents are invalidated. Because of this, and in order to reduce the number of “bad patents,” commentators and industry members have called for reforms to increase certainty in the patent system. Many have also proposed reforms that meet the varied needs of different industries. This paper responds to these prior proposals. The paper also suggests reforms to the patent system that are designed to meet the varied needs of different industries, primarily using pharmaceutical and computer industries as examples. The four reforms proposed are: allowing varied amounts of scrutiny in patent examination, pre-litigation claim scope hearings, …
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 …
Is Novelty Obsolete - Chronicling The Irrelevance Of The Invention Date In U.S. Patent Law, Dennis D. Crouch
Is Novelty Obsolete - Chronicling The Irrelevance Of The Invention Date In U.S. Patent Law, Dennis D. Crouch
Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review
This paper presents a normative study of patent prosecution by examining the role that invention-date-based novelty rights play in U.S. patent law. Three sources inform the primary results: the prosecution history files of 21,000+ patent applications filed in the past decade; a survey of 1,000+ patent practitioners regarding their use of the novelty provisions of the Patent Act; and a collection of 11,000,000+ prior art references cited in recently-issued patents. Additional compilations of prosecution file histories for patents identified as either (1) valuable or (2) worthless supplement these data sets and allow for an evaluation of the differential importance of …
The Individual Inventor Motif In The Age Of The Patent Troll, Christopher A, Cotropia
The Individual Inventor Motif In The Age Of The Patent Troll, Christopher A, Cotropia
Law Faculty Publications
The individual inventor motif has been part of American patent law since its inception. The question is whether the recent patent troll hunt has damaged the individual inventor's image and, in turn, caused Congress, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the courts to become less concerned with patent law's impact on the small inventor. This Article explores whether there has been a change in attitude by looking at various sources from legislative, administrative, and judicial actors in the patent system, such as congressional statements and testimony in discussions of the recent proposed patent reform legislation, the USPTO …