George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

“No Combination Drug Patents Act” Stalls, but Threats to Innovation Remain

superimposed images from a chemistry labBy Kevin Madigan & Sean O’Connor

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee was to mark up a bill limiting patent eligibility for combination drug patents—new forms, uses, and administrations of FDA approved medicines. While the impetus was to curb so-called “evergreening” of drug patents, the effect would have been to stifle life-saving therapeutic innovations. Read more

CPIP Roundup – May 23, 2019


Sean O’Connor Joins George Mason University’s Scalia Law Faculty

Sean O'Connor

O’Connor will lead the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property and expand innovation and entrepreneurship programs.

Professor Sean O’Connor, noted innovation law scholar, is joining George Mason University’s Scalia Law faculty as a tenured full professor and Executive Director of the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP). Read more

Sean O’Connor Joins George Mason University’s Scalia Law Faculty

Sean O'ConnorO’Connor will lead the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property and expand innovation and entrepreneurship programs.

Professor Sean O’Connor, noted innovation law scholar, is joining George Mason University’s Scalia Law faculty as a tenured full professor and Executive Director of the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP). Read more

Supreme Court to Assess USPTO’s Controversial Attorneys’ Fees Position

U.S. Supreme Court buildingBy Chris Katopis & Devlin Hartline

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an important case concerning patent law procedures and the American legal system in general. In Iancu v. NantKwest, the Court asks, “Does all really mean all?” Read more

Qualcomm Founder Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs Delights Attendees at CPIP’s Sixth Annual Fall Conference

2018 Fall Conference flyerBy Kathleen Wills*

On October 11-12, 2018, the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) hosted its Sixth Annual Fall Conference at Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington, Virginia. The theme of the conference was IP for the Next Generation of Technology, and it featured a number of panel discussions and presentations on how IP rights and institutions can foster the next great technological advances. Read more

Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic Students File Amicus Brief in Brammer v. Violent Hues

a gavel lying on a desk in front of booksBy Rachelle Mortimer & Grant Ossler*

The Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic at Antonin Scalia Law School recently filed an amicus brief in the Brammer v. Violent Hues case that is on appeal in the Fourth Circuit. The Clinic provides a unique opportunity for students interested in intellectual property and entertainment law. Read more

Proposed Misuse of Section 1498 Relies on the False Claim that Patents Are Not Property

hand under a lightbulb drawn on a chalkboardBy Kathleen Wills*

The question whether patents are property rights is a continuing and hotly debated topic in IP law. Despite an abundance of scholarship (see here, here, here, here, and here) detailing how intellectual property (“IP”) rights have long been equated with property rights in land and other tangible assets, critics often claim that this “propertarian” view of IP is a recent development. Read more

Proposal for Drug Price Controls is Legally Unprecedented and Threatens Medical Innovation

dictionary entry for the word "innovate"By Adam Mossoff, Sean O’Connor, & Evan Moore*

The price of the miracle drugs everyone uses today is cause for concern among people today. The President has commented on it. Some academics, lawyers, and policymakers have routinely called for the government to “do something” to lower prices.  Read more

New “Invalidated” Documentary Highlights the Problems With the PTAB: Free Screening on October 26

a lit lightbulb hanging next to unlit bulbsBy Devlin Hartline and Aditi Kulkarni*

The “Invalidated” documentary will be screened this Friday, October 26, at 5:30 PM in Washington, D.C. To register for this free event, which features a presentation by Bunch O Balloons inventor Josh Malone among others, please click here. Read more