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University of Michigan Law School

2012

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Patent system

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Improving Patent Notice And Remedies: A Critique Of The Ftc's 2011 Report, Alan Devlin Jan 2012

Improving Patent Notice And Remedies: A Critique Of The Ftc's 2011 Report, Alan Devlin

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

2011 was an eventful year for those interested in patent law. In March, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") released a report that urges the Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") and courts to remedy perceived inadequacies underlying the U.S. patent system. The FTC observes that people of skill in the art routinely encounter difficulty in determining the meaning, and hence exclusive scope, of a patent's claims. Not only does this failure of notice stymie the efficient dispersion of technology throughout the economy, the FTC argues, but the judicial process can aggravate the problem by granting inappropriate remedies in patent-infringement cases. Then, …


Res Or Rules - Patents And The (Uncertain) Rules Of The Game, Emily Michiko Morris Jan 2012

Res Or Rules - Patents And The (Uncertain) Rules Of The Game, Emily Michiko Morris

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The Article proceeds as follows. Part I reviews the basics of patent claiming, the traditional view of claims as real property deeds, and why uncertainty as to the boundaries of those deeds is considered undesirable. Part II critiques the analogy between real property deeds and patent claims, highlighting in particular the requisite novelty and conceptual nature of the patent res, the differences between the purposes of the patent system and real property regimes, and the effect of these different purposes on the expected predictability of patent boundaries. Part III then changes the analogy from patent claims as property deeds to …