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Full-Text Articles in Intellectual Property Law

Patenting Physibles: A Fresh Perspective For Claiming 3d-Printable Products, Daniel Harris Brean Dec 2014

Patenting Physibles: A Fresh Perspective For Claiming 3d-Printable Products, Daniel Harris Brean

Daniel Harris Brean

To successfully combat patent infringement, it is necessary to have an effective way to extinguish infringement at the source. In the case of 3D printing, this means being able to enforce one’s patent against those who are selling or distributing the printable CAD files. But the law does not currently provide patent protection for CAD files. Because this severely limits the enforceability of patents in the emerging 3D printing space, it discourages innovation and needs to be remedied.

Beauregard claims are perhaps the best existing option for patents that might encompass CAD files, but Beauregard claims are still largely ineffective …


Ending Unreasonable Royalties: Why Nominal Damages Are Adequate To Compensate Patent Assertion Entities For Infringement, Daniel Harris Brean Dec 2014

Ending Unreasonable Royalties: Why Nominal Damages Are Adequate To Compensate Patent Assertion Entities For Infringement, Daniel Harris Brean

Daniel Harris Brean

According to Section 284 of the Patent Act, damages for patent infringement are supposed to be compensatory. The statute only allows for recovery of "damages adequate to compensate for the infringement." Even though it qualifies that such damages must be "in no event less than a reasonable royalty," this language cannot be read to avoid the fundamental requirement that, as compensatory damages, any recovery must stem from actual harm suffered by the patent owner. Absent proof of actual harm, only nominal damages should be recoverable. Yet patentees who suffer no actual harm are regularly obtaining considerable amounts of money from …