Within the complex global economy, patents function as indispensable tools for fostering and protecting innovation. This fascinating volume offers a comprehensive perspective on the US patent system, detailing its many uses and outlining several critical legislative, administrative and judicial reforms that impact business strategy. The expert contributors to this book provide an overview of how the US patent system functions today and describe how recent changes affect firms and individual inventors. Topics discussed include the drivers of intellectual property policy; recent revisions to the patent application process in terms of the new first-to-file regime, inequitable conduct, and allowable subject matter; and changes to patent enforcement and infringement related to the Federal Circuit's special role and post-grant review. Contributors address recent legislation such as the 2011 America Invents Act, which enacted some of the most significant patent reforms in decades. This examination of the US patent system highlights some of the most important issues for business. It will serve as an important tool for both policymakers and business leaders, and will also interest students and professors of business and management studies, innovation studies and business law.
Contents: Introduction PART I: INFLUENCES ON PATENT POLICY 1. Coalition Formation and Battles to Effect Intellectual Property Policy Change in the Age of ACTA, AIA and the SHIELD Act 2. Administrative Patent Levers in the Software, Biotechnology and Clean Technology Industries PART II: REVISIONS TO PATENT APPLICATION PROCESS 3. The America Invents Act, Patent Priority, and Supplemental Examination 4. Inequitable Conduct after Therasense and the America Invents Act 5. The Patenting of a Profession - Accounting in the Crosshairs PART III: CHANGES TO THE SCOPE OF ENFORCEMENT AND INFRINGEMENT 6. Unexpected Hazards of a Specialized Patent Court: Lessons from Joint Infringement Doctrine 7. The Transformation of Patents into Information Containment Tools 8. Will the America Invents Act Post-grant Review Improve the Quality of Patents? A Comparison with the European Patent Office Opposition PART IV: EMERGENCE OF EXCLUSION SYSTEMS BEYOND PATENTS 9. Biopharmaceuticals under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Determining the Appropriate Market and Data Exclusivity Periods
