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When Biopharma Meets Software: Bioinformatics At The Patent Office, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Arti K. Rai
When Biopharma Meets Software: Bioinformatics At The Patent Office, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Arti K. Rai
Faculty Scholarship
Scholars have spilled much ink questioning patent quality. Complaints encompass concern about incoming applications, examination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), and the USPTO’s ultimate output. The literature and some empirical data also suggest, however, that applications, examination, and output may differ considerably based on technology. Most notably, although definitions of patent quality are contested, quality in the biopharmaceutical industry is often considered substantially higher than that in information and communications technology (ICT) industries.
This Article presents the first empirical examination of what happens when the two fields are combined. Specifically, it analyzes the creation and early history …
The Written Description Requirement, Robert Greene Sterne, Patrick E. Garrett, Theodore A. Wood
The Written Description Requirement, Robert Greene Sterne, Patrick E. Garrett, Theodore A. Wood
Akron Law Review
It is now well accepted that this provision of the 1952 Patent Act (Patent Act) includes a written description requirement that is separate and distinct from the enablement requirement. Thus, a specification may enable one of ordinary skill to make or use a claimed invention, but still not adequately describe the invention in a way that the public knows that the inventor was in possession of the claimed invention at the time of filing the application. For example, a patent specification that discloses various patterns of eight wooden shingles, does not necessarily provide written description for a claim amendment that …
Foresight Bias In Patent Law, Sean B. Seymore
Foresight Bias In Patent Law, Sean B. Seymore
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Much of patent reform has focused on efforts to make it harder to obtain and enforce low-quality patents. The most straightforward way to achieve this goal is to raise the substantive standards of patentability. What is often ignored in discussions about raising patentability standards is that high-quality inventions can slip through the cracks. What is more troubling is that sometimes this happens because of bias. This Article draws attention to foresight bias, which occurs when a decision-maker lets over-pessimism and an oversimplified view of the future influence the patentability determination. Foresight bias leads to a patent denial regardless of the …