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The Use Of The Doctrine Of Equivalents To Fix Mistakes A Mistake?, Martin J. Adelman
The Use Of The Doctrine Of Equivalents To Fix Mistakes A Mistake?, Martin J. Adelman
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
Through empirical research, this article examines whether the patent system of the United States should limit the doctrine of non-textual infringement to obvious after-arising equivalents. Using five decisions from multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, Japan and Great Britain, the article explains the various patent systems and limitations those patent systems face in deciding whether an infringement is an obvious equivalent. The article then discusses the interpretations of patent claims and the policy implications of those interpretations. The article presents the policy argument for patentees to cover the costs associated with patent prosecution because the alternative would be burdensome costs …
A Grace Period And European Patent Law: It's Time For Change, Martin J. Adelman
A Grace Period And European Patent Law: It's Time For Change, Martin J. Adelman
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
This article begins by discussing the first-to-file and first-to-invent approaches to inventions. Next, the article describes how each of the two systems defines “prior art” and argues that employing the first-to-invent approach has two problems: a lack of incentive to file early and difficulty in advising an inventor about what qualifies as prior art. In the United States, something counts as prior art “[i]f the publication date is more than one year before the actual filing date.” The article concludes that Europe would benefit from adding a grace period because it would make the system fairer and create more similarity …