The Constitutional Argument Against Prior User Rights
The man who secretes his invention makes easier and plainer the path of no one. He contributes nothing to the public. Over and over has it been repeated that the object of the patent system is, through...
View ArticleHandwriting on the Wall: House Passes Managers Amendment to America Invents Act
Shortly after 2pm Eastern Time the United States House of Representatives voted on the Managers Amendment to the America Invents Act, H.R. 1249. The Managers Amendment passed by a vote of 283 - 140....
View ArticlePatent Reform: House Passes America Invents Act 304-117
United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 1249, which is known as the America Invents Act by a vote of 304-117. This bill differs from the Senate version of patent reform, S. 23, so there...
View ArticleAmerica Invents: How the New Law Impacts Your Patent Practice
The America Invents Act, which just recently passed by the Congress and sent to the White House for President Obama’s signature, is the most significant patent reform legislation in decades, and it...
View ArticleReshaping U.S. Patent Law. Who are the Winners & Losers?
It is fair to say that enactment of the AIA is not what most stakeholders championed early on. Many small inventors and innovation companies feel that some of the provisions are not in their best...
View ArticleAmerica Invents: A Simple Guide to Patent Reform, Part 2
I have done quite a bit of writing about the America Invents Act, but I have been a bit derelict in providing the sequel to America Invents: A Simple Guide to Patent Reform, Part 1. Part of the reason,...
View ArticleUSPTO to Conduct Studies of Prior User Rights and International Patent...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released two Federal Register Notices on October 7, 2011, seeking written comments and announcing two public hearings for two studies the agency is...
View ArticlePoint – Counterpoint: The Debate Over Prior User Rights
Exactly who is to blame if a pharmaceutical company, say Eli Lilly, decides to invest billions of dollars and build a facility when they haven't adequately protected their own intellectual property?...
View ArticleWhat Will Prior User Rights Mean for Patent Litigators?
If you believe that prior user rights are insignificant and don't deserve discussion you have permission to keep your head firmly planted in the sand. Everyone else keep reading. Think of all that will...
View ArticlePrior User Rights and the Incentive to Keep Innovations Secret
However, if prior users are keeping their technology secret while being protected, that leap-frogging from one breakthrough to the next be impeded. Disclosure is the backbone of the progression of the...
View ArticlePrior User Rights: Rewarding Those Who Don’t Contribute
Prior user rights also implicate free rider problems with respect to a subsequent patent that an inventor obtains covering the subject matter of the secret prior user. At the point of publication the...
View ArticlePrior User Rights: The Uncertainty Will Cost You
Section 273 uses language that is untested in the court system. Clarity with respect to statutory construction is especially important to those who wish to take advantage of a prior use but will only...
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