Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Law
Keeping Time Machines And Teleporters In The Public Domain: Fiction As Prior Art For Patent Examination, Daniel Harris Brean
Keeping Time Machines And Teleporters In The Public Domain: Fiction As Prior Art For Patent Examination, Daniel Harris Brean
Daniel Harris Brean
Works of fiction sometimes contain disclosures of inventions that operate as a bar to patentability, preventing inventors who actually make those inventions from subsequently patenting them. This is because the fictional disclosures effectively destroy the novelty of the inventions or render them obvious. Despite such disclosures, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office does not habitually or effectively search through fiction for pertinent prior art in its examinations. This paper explores the legal, economic, and pragmatic considerations if searching fiction is to become part of the patent examination process. Until recently, it was impracticable to search fiction in a manner that …