A Generation of Patent Litigation

Patent quality is a slippery concept; there are many ways to consider quality, such as disclosure and technology breadth. Perhaps the simplest measure of quality is whether a patent is valid, that is, whether it is novel, nonobvious, and otherwise compliant with the Patent Act. Therefore, the goal o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The San Diego law review 2015-01, Vol.52 (1), p.67
Main Author: Risch, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Infringement
Litigation
Studies
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Patent quality is a slippery concept; there are many ways to consider quality, such as disclosure and technology breadth. Perhaps the simplest measure of quality is whether a patent is valid, that is, whether it is novel, nonobvious, and otherwise compliant with the Patent Act. Therefore, the goal of this study is to take a step back from rhetoric, consider the data in a neutral way, and detail policy implications that arise. The data collected in this Article attempts to bridge the gap by providing detail and longevity. Rather than considering a short sample of judicial rulings, it opts instead to consider a large sample of lawsuits over a 25 year period to determine what happened in every case associated with a set of patents through appeal, whether a court ruled on the merits or not. This article concludes with some thoughts about how the results might guide policy.
ISSN:0036-4037