Patent Litigation Perspectives: Where We Stand Now *

Patent Litigation Perspectives: Where We Stand Now *

View Session Speakers

A great deal has changed with respect to U.S. patents over the two generations. The United States transitioned from a system where far fewer patents were sought and where courts rarely, if ever, saw a patent they thought was valid and enforceable, into a patent system where patents were an extremely valuable asset backed by a Federal Circuit that was not afraid to find patents valid and infringed. There is little doubt that the golden era of patents in the United States is over, with the landscape today looking much more like it did in the late 1970s before the creation of the Federal Circuit. This is driving far greater interest in patent systems around the world, investors to back startup companies and SMEs outside the U.S. at greater levels than ever before, and patent enforcement disputes to move outside the United States in search of fairer treatment and the possibility of injunctive relief in the event a valid patent is found to be infringed. What does this mean for the future of the U.S. patent system? Where do we stand now and where are we heading? These questions will be addressed by long serving jurists who can offer the perspective few have.

Materials

The Most Striking (and Embarrassing) Legal Mistake in Modern Patent Law

Judge-Made ‘Exceptions’ are Both Unnecessary and Misconstrued

How the Supreme Court Ignored Statute and Revived Its Innovation-Killing Two-Step

Patent Eligibility: Seven Times the Federal Circuit Has Struck Out

My Thirty-Five-Year Perspective on Intellectual Property, and Where We Stand Now