Law Commons^™

Ostrich With Its Head In The Sand: The Law, Inventorship, & Artificial Intelligence, Ben Kovach

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

As artificial intelligence (AI) system’s capabilities advance, the law has struggled to keep pace. Nowhere is this more evident than patent law’s refusal to recognize AI as an inventor. This is precisely what happened when, in 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ruled that it will not accept an AI system as a named inventor on a patent.

This note explores untenable legal fiction that the USPTO’s ruling has created. First, it explores the current state of AI systems, focusing on those capable of invention. Next, it examines patent law’s inventorship doctrine and the USPTO’s application of that …

Characteristics Of Patent Examiners Who Issue Litigated / Invalidated Patents, S. Sean Tu

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Federal Judge Seeks Patent Cases, Jonas Anderson, Paul R. Gugliuzza

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

That probably seems like a bizarre Craigslist ad. It’s not real—we mocked it up for this article. Still, and startlingly, it accurately portrays what’s happening in the Waco Division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. One judge, appointed to the Western District only three years ago, has been advertising his courtroom through presentations to patent lawyers, comments to the media, procedural practices, and decisions in patent cases as the place to file a patent infringement lawsuit. That advertising has succeeded. In 2016 and 2017, the Waco Division received a total of five patent cases. In …

The (Unnoticed) Revitalization Of The Doctrine Of Equivalents, Daryl Lim

Faculty Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Alice: A Response To Jay P. Kesan & Runhua Wang’S Eligible Subject Matter At The Patent Office: An Empirical Study Of The Influence Of Alice On Patent Examiners And Patent Applicants, Daryl Lim

Faculty Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Patent Examination And Examiner Interviews, S. Sean Tu

Law Faculty Scholarship

Examiner interviews are one of the most powerful tools to help both inventors and examiners understand and overcome specific issues during prosecution. Direct discussions between an applicant and an examiner can help bridge the gap between misunderstandings of prior art, the invention, or statements in the specification. When used correctly, examiner interviews can dramatically decrease the time in prosecution and help applicants quickly reach a final disposition. This paper reviews approximately 1.1 million patent applications corresponding to every patent application with an examiner interview between 2007 and June 2020 to determine the effectiveness of examiner interviews. This study establishes that …