February

Bipartisan patent reform legislation has defied skeptics and made substantial progress in Congress this year. Although some in the patent community have not embraced specific elements, most, at least grudgingly, acknowledge a broad need for modernization of the patent system. Many small inventors, however, have maintained a...

Patent reform arouses passions among the affected industries, whether they are plaintiffs or defendants, willing users or unwilling participants in the patent system. The key question, therefore, is: How should we structure the patent system in order to best promote innovation in the U.S. economy?

As the patent system grows in importance to the U.S. economy, so too does the controversy surrounding the law, its institutional players, and even its underlying economic assumptions. The Supreme Court’s recent return to substantive patent law in last term’s KSR v. Teleflex opinion offers an opportunity to take stock of the recent past and look forward.

It is often said that success has many fathers but failure is an orphan. This is the story of how a dispute over who was the father of a major scientific breakthrough in the treatment of cancer turned into a five-year patent litigation and the practical lessons learned from the experience.