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Full-Text Articles in Law
Indefiniteness As An Invalidity Case, Janet M. Smith
Indefiniteness As An Invalidity Case, Janet M. Smith
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Null Patent, Sean B. Seymore
The Null Patent, Sean B. Seymore
William & Mary Law Review
Failure is the basis of much of scientific progress because it plays a key role in building knowledge. In fact, negative results compose the bulk of knowledge produced in scientific research. This is not a bad thing because failures always produce valuable technical information—whether it be a serendipitous finding, an abundance of unexpected technical data, or simply knowledge that an initial hypothesis was totally wrong. Though some have recognized that the dissemination of negative results has many upsides for science, transforming scientific norms toward disclosure is no easy task. As for patent law, the potentially important role that negative results …
Self-Realizing Inventions And The Utilitarian Foundation Of Patent Law, Alan Devlin, Neel Sukhatme
Self-Realizing Inventions And The Utilitarian Foundation Of Patent Law, Alan Devlin, Neel Sukhatme
William & Mary Law Review
Unlike other forms of intellectual property, patents are universally justified on utilitarian grounds alone. Valuable inventions and discoveries, bearing the characteristics of public goods, are easily appropriated by third parties. Because much technological innovation occurs pursuant to significant expenditures—both in terms of upfront research and subsequent commercialization costs—inventors must be permitted to extract at least part of the social gain associated with their technological contributions. Absent some form of proprietary control or alternative reward system, economics predicts that suboptimal capital will be devoted to the innovative process. This widely accepted principle comes with an important corollary: namely, that canons of …
The New Invention Creation Activity Boundary In Patent Law, Margo A. Bagley
The New Invention Creation Activity Boundary In Patent Law, Margo A. Bagley
William & Mary Law Review
This Essay identifies a new boundary in patent law-illegal or immoral invention creation activity-and explores the possible challenges and opportunities it may facilitate. The boundary currently is neither robust nor extensive, and whether and under what circumstances it should exist at all is open to debate.
Patent Examination Priorities, Michael J. Meurer
Patent Examination Priorities, Michael J. Meurer
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.
A Realistic Approach To The Obviousness Of Inventions, Daralyn J. Durie, Mark A. Lemley
A Realistic Approach To The Obviousness Of Inventions, Daralyn J. Durie, Mark A. Lemley
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.
Contractual Expansion Of The Scope Of Patent Infringement Through Field-Of-Use Licensing, Mark R. Patterson
Contractual Expansion Of The Scope Of Patent Infringement Through Field-Of-Use Licensing, Mark R. Patterson
William & Mary Law Review
Patentees sometimes employ field-of-use licenses, under which they grant the right to use their inventions, but only in specified ways. Field-of-use licensing is often procompetitive, because the ability to provide different licensing terms for different users can encourage broader licensing of inventions. But in recent cases, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and several district courts have upheld field-of-use licenses that prohibited activities that would otherwise have been permitted by patent law, such as the repair and resale of patented products. By treating any violation of a license agreement as patent infringement, and by upholding license provisions that …
Nonobviousness In Patent Law: A Question Of Law Or Fact?
Nonobviousness In Patent Law: A Question Of Law Or Fact?
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.