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Infringement & The International Reach Of U.S. Patent Law, Moin A. Yahya, Cameron Hutchison

Moin A Yahya

American Patent Law, through both judicial and legislative efforts, has evolved from a strict territorial based set of laws asserting jurisdiction only over those infringements taking place on American soil to a more expansive set of rules asserting jurisdiction over any event that may harm patent holders in the United States regardless of where the infringement is taking place. This, we argue, is contrary to the original purpose of Patent Law and inconsistent with American obligations under the International Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). We argue for a return to territorial based rules of jurisdiction. Such a …