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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Law
Uninformative Patents, Sean B. Seymore
Uninformative Patents, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
It is a bedrock principle of patent law that an inventor need not know or understand how or why an invention works. The patent statute simply requires that the inventor explain how to make and use the invention. But explaining how to make and use something without understanding how or why it works yields patents with uninformative disclosures. Their teaching function is limited; someone who wants to understand or figure out the underlying scientific principles must turn elsewhere. This limited disclosure rule does not align with the norms of science and tends to make patent documents a less robust form …
How Does My Work Become Our Work? Dilution Of Authorship In Scientific Papers, And The Need For The Academy To Obey Copyright Law, Sean B. Seymore
How Does My Work Become Our Work? Dilution Of Authorship In Scientific Papers, And The Need For The Academy To Obey Copyright Law, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
Professors enjoy a world of extensive institutional autonomy and individual academic freedom. Universities and courts defer to a professor’s judgment for “genuinely academic decisions” unless they depart from academic norms. Universities, courts, and professional societies should intervene, however, when academic norms and custom do not comport with the law.
I'M Confused: How Can The Federal Government Promote Diversity In Higher Education Yet Continue To Strengthen Historically Black Colleges?, Sean B. Seymore
I'M Confused: How Can The Federal Government Promote Diversity In Higher Education Yet Continue To Strengthen Historically Black Colleges?, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
No abstract provided.
Patently Impossible, Sean B. Seymore
Patently Impossible, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
The quest to achieve the impossible fuels creativity, spawns new fields of inquiry, illuminates old ones, and extends the frontiers of knowledge. It is difficult, however, to obtain a patent for an invention which seems impossible, incredible, or conflicts with well-established scientific principles. The principal patentability hurdle is operability, which an inventor cannot overcome if there is reason to doubt that the invention can really achieve the intended result. Despite its laudable gatekeeping role, this Article identifies two problems with the law of operability. First, though objective in theory, the operability analysis rests on subjective credibility assessments. These credibility assessments …
The Null Patent, Sean B. Seymore
The Null Patent, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
Failure is the basis of much of scientific progress because it plays a key role in knowledge building. In fact, negative results comprise the bulk of knowledge produced in scientific research. This is not a bad thing because failures always produce valuable technical information - whether it be a serendipitous finding, an abundance of unexpected technical data, or simply knowledge that an initial hypothesis was totally wrong. Though some have recognized that the dissemination of negative results has many upsides for science, transforming scientific norms toward disclosure is no easy task. As for patent law, the potentially important role that …
Serendipity, Sean B. Seymore
Serendipity, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
Serendipity, the process of finding something of value initially unsought, has played a prominent role in modern science and technology. These "happy accidents" have spawned new fields of science, broken intellectual and technological barriers, and furnished countless products that have altered the course of human history. In the realm of patent law, one curious aspect of accidental discoveries that has received little attention in the academic literature and the courts is how they mesh with the substantive law of invention. This Essay shows that applying conventional doctrines to accidental inventions is theoretically untenable and, in certain circumstances, may result in …
The "Printed Publication" Bar After Klopfenstein: Has The Federal Circuit Changed The Way Professors Should Talk About Science?, Sean B. Seymore
The "Printed Publication" Bar After Klopfenstein: Has The Federal Circuit Changed The Way Professors Should Talk About Science?, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
Would-be infringers target university patents because faculty inventors are more likely to make inadvertent disclosures than industrial inventors, possibly because of the importance of quick disclosure and publishing in academic science. In Klopfenstein, the Federal Circuit held that the posting of lecture slides after a talk triggered the printed publication bar of the patent statute. First, I argue (contrary to other commentators) that the Federal Circuit is consistent with prior precedent; that the public accessibility and dissemination inquiries should rest on substance rather than form. The focus of the § 102(b) inquiry remains on the inventor, who should lose the …
Reinvention, Sean B. Seymore
Reinvention, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
It is axiomatic that once an invention has been patented, it cannot be patented again. This aligns with the quid pro quo theory of patents — the public would receive nothing new in exchange for the second patent. Enforcing this rule is done through the novelty requirement, which bars a patent if the invention is already known. But the rule is hard to justify if the original patentee reneged on the quid pro quo by inadequately disclosing how to make and use the invention. The inadequate disclosure suggests that the original inventor did not invent anything and the public received …
Heightened Enablement In The Unpredictable Arts, Sean B. Seymore
Heightened Enablement In The Unpredictable Arts, Sean B. Seymore
Sean Seymore
A bedrock principle of patent law is that an applicant must sufficiently disclose the invention in exchange for the right to exclude. The essential facet of the disclosure requirement is enablement, which compels a patent applicant to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) how to make and use the full scope of the claimed invention without undue experimentation. Enablement problems may arise when the applicant claims an invention broadly with a dearth of supporting data or examples. This is problematic in unpredictable fields like chemistry because a PHOSITA often needs a specific and detailed teaching in …