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Patent Carrots And Sticks: An Economic Model Of Nonobviousness, Michael J. Meurer, Katherine J. Strandburg
Patent Carrots And Sticks: An Economic Model Of Nonobviousness, Michael J. Meurer, Katherine J. Strandburg
Katherine J. Strandburg
The authors develop an informal model of the impact of the nonobviousness standard on the choice of research projects. Previous models assume that the basic question confronting a researcher is, “Shall I produce this particular invention?” More realistically, the authors think a researcher asks, “Which research path shall I pursue?” The model shows that a patent serves as a carrot to induce the choice of more difficult projects than would be pursued under the no-patent alternative. The nonobviousness standard serves as a stick to prod researchers to choose even more difficult projects. The results of the model help us understand …
What If There Were A Business Method User Exemption To Patent Infringement?, Katherine J. Strandburg
What If There Were A Business Method User Exemption To Patent Infringement?, Katherine J. Strandburg
Katherine J. Strandburg
The Federal Circuit’s decision in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group Inc. that business methods are patentable is nearly ten years old, yet the wisdom of patenting business methods remains highly debatable. For example, three Supreme Court justices recently have questioned State Street Bank’s “useful, concrete, and tangible result” test for patentable subject matter. Many commentators have also debated the patenting of business methods, questioning whether patents are necessary to spark innovation in methods of doing business and whether exclusive rights to business methods are impediments to a competitive economy. This short Symposium piece seeks to …
The Research Exemption To Patent Infringement: The Delicate Balance Between Current And Future Technical Progress, Katherine J. Strandburg
The Research Exemption To Patent Infringement: The Delicate Balance Between Current And Future Technical Progress, Katherine J. Strandburg
Katherine J. Strandburg
No abstract provided.
Debate, The Obviousness Requirement In The Patent Law, R. Polk Wagner, Katherine J. Strandburg
Debate, The Obviousness Requirement In The Patent Law, R. Polk Wagner, Katherine J. Strandburg
Katherine J. Strandburg
In this debate, Professor R. Polk Wagner, of Penn, and Professor Katherine J. Strandburg, of DePaul University College of Law, consider the merits (and demerits) of one doctrinal approach to the so-called "obviousness" requirement in patent law--the "teaching, suggestion, or motivation" (TSM) test. In Wagner's view, "even with its imperfections, the law and policy of the TSM analysis, done right, offers the best opportunity to bring predictability, transparency, and rigor to what is, at the end of the day, the enormously difficult task of quantifying what the patent law rewards as invention." For reasons she explains, Strandburg maintains that "the …
What Does The Public Get? Experimental Use And The Patent Bargain, Katherine J. Strandburg
What Does The Public Get? Experimental Use And The Patent Bargain, Katherine J. Strandburg
Katherine J. Strandburg
This article deals with the increasing tension between the tradition of protecting commercially valuable inventions through patenting and the need for a robust public domain of freely available technical information as a springboard for further research. The “experimental use exemption,” permitting some unauthorized research uses of patented inventions, might be used to relieve some of this tension. However, the scope of the research exemption has been shrunk so far by recent Federal Circuit opinions that even basic university research is not excused from infringement liability. This article returns to the first principles of patent law -- the incentives to invent …