George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

Patented Innovation and Patent Wars: Some Historical Perspective

[This was originally posted at IBM’s A Smarter Planet Blog on January 11, 2013.]

The America Invents Act (AIA) was signed into law in September 2011, and it is rightly recognized as “the most significant reform of the U.S. patent system since 1836.”  Read more

Today’s Software Patents Look a Lot Like Early Pharma Patents

[Cross Posted to Truth on the Market]

The recent New York Times article on the high-tech industry argues that software patents and the current “smart phone war” are a disaster for innovation, and it backs this with quotes and cites from a horde of academics and judges, like Judge Richard Posner, that software patents are causing “chaos.” Read more

The “Common Law Property” Myth in the Libertarian Critique of IP Rights (Part 2)

[Cross Posted to Truth on the Market on December 12, 2012]

In Part One, I addressed the argument by some libertarians that so-called “traditional property rights in land” are based in inductive, ground-up “common law court decisions,” but that intellectual property (IP) rights are top-down, artificial statutory entitlements.  Read more

The “Common Law Property” Myth in the Libertarian Critique of IP Rights (Part 1)

[Cross Posted to Truth on the Market on December 7, 2012]

In libertarian critiques of intellectual property (IP) rights, such as copyrights and patents, it’s common to the hear the claim that “traditional property rights in land” is based in inductive, ground-up “common law court decisions,” but that IP rights are top-down, artificial statutory entitlements.  Read more

Some Historical Perspective on Today's High-Tech Patent Wars

[Cross Posted at Truth on the Market on October 9, 2012]

The New York Times set hearts aflutter in the IP world yesterday with its hit piece on patents in the high-tech industry– I’m shocked, shocked to find the New York Times publishing biased articles on hot topics in politics and law — but Bloomberg also published an important article yesterday on the smart phone war, software patents and other topics raised by today’s so-called patent litigation crisis: Apple Phone Patent War Like Sewing Machine Minus Violence. Read more