Patent Law's Perfect Storm

Опубликовано 27 июля 2016, 1:44

The last few years have witnessed historic developments in U.S. patent law. With its decisions in AMP v. Myriad, Mayo v. Prometheus, and Bilski v. Kappos, the Supreme Court capped a longstanding trend away from the patentability of the human body, human embryonic stem cells, human physiology, diagnosis of human disease, human thoughts, and, finally, human genes. The Court also trimmed and redefined the scope of patent rights in its recent EBay v. MercExchange, KSR v. Teleflex, Microsoft v. AT & T, Quanta v. LG, MedImmune v. Genentech, Roche v. Stanford, Kirtsaeng v. Wiley (a copyright case with implications for patent law), and FTC v. Actavis decisions. Design patents have emerged as powerful components of patent portfolios, particularly for the protection of computer-generated images. And, unprecedented scrutiny into the proper functioning, and even the basic justifications, of the patent system led Congress to pass the America Invents Act, the most fundamental set of patent reforms in sixty years. Professor Andrew W. Torrance will share his research on these important developments in patent law.