George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

The Value of Public Data: Update to “Turning Gold to Lead”

files labeled as "patents"By Kevin Madigan & Adam Mossoff

A key value in the empirical work done in the social sciences and in the STEM fields is that data is made public and available for review, testing, and confirmation. Humans are neither infallible nor omniscient, and thus this standard practice in empirical research has evolved as a way to ensure that mistakes are identified and corrected. Read more

Department of Justice Recognizes Importance of Reliable Patent Rights in Innovation Economy

dictionary entry for the word "innovate"It is undeniable that the patent system has been under stress for the past decade, as courts, regulators, and even the Patent Office itself (as the newly confirmed Director Andrei Iancu has acknowledged) have sowed legal uncertainty, weakened patent rights, and even outright eliminated patent rights. Read more

The PTAB’s Regulatory Overreach and How it Cripples the Innovation Economy

files labeled as "patents"On August 14, 2017, the Regulatory Transparency Project of the Federalist Society published a new white paper, Crippling the Innovation Economy: Regulatory Overreach at the Patent Office. This white paper examines how an administrative tribunal created in 2011—the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)—has become “a prime example regulatory overreach.” Read more

An Ever-Weakening Patent System is Threatening the Future of American Innovation

dictionary entry for the word "innovate"Over the past ten years, the United States patent system has been transformed by new legislation, regulatory actions, and numerous decisions by the Supreme Court addressing nearly every area of patent doctrine. The many disruptive legal changes have affected infringement remedies, licensing activities, and what types of inventions and discoveries are eligible for patent protection, resulting in a profound sense of uncertainty for most stakeholders. Read more

Event Recap: Great Inventors and the Patent System

hand under a lightbulb drawn on a blackboardOn February 16, 2017, CPIP hosted a panel discussion, America as a Place of Innovation: Great Inventors and the Patent System, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The event was co-hosted by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Read more

Federal Circuit Brings Some Clarity and Sanity Back to Patent Eligibility Doctrine

By Adam Mossoff and Kevin Madigan

closeup of a circuit boardFollowing the Supreme Court’s four decisions on patent eligibility for inventions under § 101 of the Patent Act, there has been much disruption and uncertainty in the patent system. The patent bar and most stakeholders in the innovation industries have found the Supreme Court’s decisions in Alice Corp. Read more

Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Google’s Patent Transparency Hypocrisy

dictionary entry for the word "innovate"It is common today to hear that it’s simply impossible to search a field of technology to determine whether patents are valid or if there’s even freedom to operate at all. We hear this complaint about the lack of transparency in finding “prior art” in both the patent application process and about existing patents. Read more

How Patents Help Startups Grow, Innovate, and Succeed

Many academic studies of the patent system focus on the negative, extrapolating from anecdotes about a few bad actors to make the case that our patent system is broken and to bolster cries for legislation weakening patent rights. Precious few studies focus on the countless honest and hardworking patent owners whose inventive labors benefit us all. Read more

#AliceStorm for Halloween: Was it a Trick or a Treat?

The following guest post from Robert R. Sachs, Partner at Fenwick & West LLP, first appeared on the Bilski Blog, and it is reposted here with permission.

By Robert R. Sachs

Alice has been busy the last two months, continuing to haunt the federal courts and the Knox and Randolph buildings at the USPTO. Read more