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The Supreme Court Case That The Federal Circuit Overruled: Westinghouse V. Boyden Power Brake Co., Samuel F. Ernst
The Supreme Court Case That The Federal Circuit Overruled: Westinghouse V. Boyden Power Brake Co., Samuel F. Ernst
Publications
Can a federal court of appeals overrule Supreme Court precedent? Not overtly. But if nobody takes notice, a circuit court can undermine Supreme Court precedent, vacating lower court decisions that rely on the precedent and announcing in published opinions that a once robust doctrine has somehow suddenly become archaic, disfavored, and rarely applied. This is how the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has caused an important Supreme Court patent law doctrine to vanish: the reverse doctrine of equivalents, as announced by the Court in the 1898 case Westinghouse v. Boyden Power Brake Co. Hence Westinghouse represents forgotten precedent …
The Lost Precedent Of The Reverse Doctrine Of Equivalents, Samuel F. Ernst
The Lost Precedent Of The Reverse Doctrine Of Equivalents, Samuel F. Ernst
Publications
Proponents of legislative patent reform argue that the current patent system perversely impedes true innovation in the name of protecting a vast web of patented inventions, the majority of which are never even commercialized for the benefit of the public. Opponents of such legislation argue that comprehensive, prospective patent reform legislation would harm the incentive to innovate more than it would curb the vexatious practices of non-practicing entities. But while the "Innovation Act" wallows in Congress, there is a common law tool to protect innovation from the patent thicket lying right under our noses: the reverse doctrine of equivalents. Properly …