John F. Duffy

  • Samuel H. McCoy II Professor of Law
  • Paul G. Mahoney Research Professor of Law

John Duffy joined the Law School in 2011 after serving on the faculty at George Washington University Law School since 2003. Duffy teaches torts, administrative law, patent law and international intellectual property law.

In the field of intellectual property, Duffy has been identified as one of the 25 most-influential people in the nation by The American Lawyer and one of the 50 most influential people in the world by the U.K. publication Managing Intellectual Property. He was named a legal “visionary” by the Legal Times in 2009 and has been profiled in BusinessWeek.

After receiving an undergraduate degree in physics, Duffy served as articles editor on the University of Chicago Law Review and was awarded an Olin Fellowship in Law and Economics. Duffy clerked for Judge Stephen Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, served as an attorney adviser in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, and practiced law with the Washington, D.C., firm Covington & Burling.

Since entering academia in 1996, Duffy has been on the faculty of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and the William and Mary School of Law, and has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago. He has published articles in the University of Chicago Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Texas Law Review and Supreme Court Review, and he is the co-author of a casebook on patent law.

Scholarship Profile: Regulatory Structure and the Intellectual Property System (Virginia Journal 2011)

More: Duffy to Join Law School, Strengthen IP Faculty

Education

  • J.D.
    University of Chicago Law School
    1989
  • A.B.
    Harvard University
    1985

Books

A Guide to Judicial and Political Review of Federal Agencies (with Michael Herz), American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice (1 ed. 2005).

Textbooks

Patent Law and Policy: Cases and Materials (with Robert Patrick Merges), Carolina Academic Press (8 ed. 2021).
Patent Law and Policy: Cases and Materials (with Robert Patrick Merges), Carolina Academic Press (7 ed. 2017).
Patent Law and Policy: Cases and Materials (with Robert Patrick Merges), LexisNexis (6 ed. 2013).
Patent Law and Policy: Cases and Materials (with Robert Patrick Merges), LexisNexis (5 ed. 2011).
Patent Law and Policy: Cases and Materials (with Robert Patrick Merges), LexisNexis (4 ed. 2007).
Patent Law and Policy: Cases and Materials (with Robert Patrick Merges), LexisNexis (3 ed. 2002).

Book Chapters

The Emergence of Intellectual Property for Legal Innovation (with Michael Abramowicz), in Mapping Legal Innovation, Springer, 113–137 (2021).
The Inducement Standards of Patentability (with Michael Abramowitz), in Perspectives on Patentable Subject Matter, Cambridge University Press, 151–224 (2015).
Story of Graham v. John Deere Company: Patent Law's Evolving Standard of Creativity (Patents) (with Robert P. Merges), in Intellectual Property Stories, Foundation Press (2006).

Articles & Reviews

Executive Decisions After Arthrex (with Jennifer Mascott), 2021 The Supreme Court Review 225–265 (2022).
Asymmetric Subsidies and the Bail Crisis (with Rich Hynes), 88 University of Chicago Law Review 1285 (2021).
The Myth of Well-Settled Rules in Merrill v. Yeomans, 71 Case Western Reserve Law Review 667–698 (2020).
Reasoned Decisionmaking vs. Rational Ignorance at the Patent Office, 104 Iowa Law Review 2351–2386 (2019).
Common Law vs. Statutory Bases of Patent Exhaustion (with Rich Hynes), 103 Virginia Law Review Online 1–17 (2017).
Counterproductive Notice in Literalistic versus Peripheral Claiming, 96 Boston University Law Review 1197–1221 (2016).
Statutory Domain and the Commercial Law of Intellectual Property (with Rich Hynes), 102 Virginia Law Review 1–77 (2016).
Standing to Challenge Patents, Enforcement Risk, and Separation of Powers, 83 George Washington Law Review 628–646 (2015).
Jury Review of Administrative Action, 22 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 281–310 (2013).
Reviving the Paper Patent Doctrine, 98 Cornell Law Review 1359–1398 (2013).
The Inequities of Inequitable Conduct: A Case Study of Judicial Control of Administrative Process, 51 Houston Law Review 417–454 (2013).
Federal Circuit En Bancs in an Era of Active Supreme Court Review, 4 Landslide 8, 11–12 (2011).
The Inducement Standard of Patentability (with Michael Abramowitz), 120 Yale Law Journal 1590–1681 (2011).
Why Business Method Patents?, 63 Stanford Law Review 1247–1289 (2011).
Innovation and Recovery, 14 Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review 237–268 (2010).
The Federal Circuit in the Shadow of the Solicitor General, 78 George Washington Law Review 518–552 (2010).
Are Administrative Patent Judges Unconstitutional?, 77 George Washington Law Review 904–923 (2009).
Ending the Patenting Monopoly (with Michael Abramowicz), 157 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1541–1612 (2009).
Rules and Standards on the Forefront of Patentability: The Boundaries of Intellectual Property, 51 William & Mary Law Review 609–654 (2009).
A Timing Approach to Patentability, 12 Lewis & Clark Law Review 343–374 (2008).
Intellectual Property for Market Experimentation (with Michael Abramowicz), 83 NYU Law Review 337–410 (2008).
Inventing Invention: A Case Study of Legal Innovation, 86 Texas Law Review 1–72 (2007).
KSR v. Teleflex: Predictable Reform of Patent Substance and Procedure in the Judiciary, 106 Michigan Law Review First Impressions 34–38 (2007).
Rethinking Patent Law's Uniformity Principle (with Craig Allen Nard), 101 Northwestern University Law Review 1619–1676 (2007).
Intellectual Property Isolationsim and the Average Cost Thesis, 83 Texas Law Review 1077–1096 (2005).
Comment: Experiments after the Federal Circuit, 54 Case Western Reserve Law Review 803–810 (2004).
Defending Imminence: From Battered Women to Iraq, 46 Arizona Law Review 213–262 (2004).
Rethinking the Prospect Theory of Patents, 71 University of Chicago Law Review 439–510 (2004).
The Marginal Cost Controversy in Intellectual Property, 71 University of Chicago Law Review 37–56 (2004).
Harmony and Diversity in Global Patent Law, 17 Berkeley Technology Law Journal 685–726 (2002).
The Festo Decision and the Return of the Supreme Court to the Bar of Patents, 2002 Supreme Court Review 273–342 (2002).
Dickinson v. Zurko: An Amicus Brief (with Thomas G.., Field & Craig Allen Nard), 4 Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review 49–74 (2000).
On Improving the Legal Process of Claim Interpretation: Administrative Alternatives Patent Law and Policy, 2 Washington University Journal of Law & Policy 109–166 (2000).
The FCC and the Patent System: Progressive Ideals, Jacksonian Realism, and the Technology of Regulation, 71 University of Colorado Law Review 1071–1152 (2000).
Administrative Common Law in Judicial Review, 77 Texas Law Review 113–215 (1998).
Early Patent Publication: A Boon or Bane - A Discussion on the Legal and Economic Effects of Publishing Patent Applications after Eighteen Months of Filing Symposium, 16 Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Review 601–634 (1998).
Technological Change and Doctrinal Persistence: Telecommunications Reform in Congress and the Court (with Monroe E. Price), 97 Columbia Law Review 976–1015 (1997).
Sovereign Immunity, the Officer Suit Fiction, and Entitlement Benefits, 56 University of Chicago Law Review 295–336 (1989).
Parallel operation and crosstalk measurements in GaAs étalon optical logic devices (with A. C. Gossard et al.), 48 Applied Physics Letters 1342–1344 (1986).
Pulsed Optical Logic in GaAs Etalons (with J. H. English et al.), 8 Optical Bistability III - Springer Proceedings in Physics 32–34 (1985).

Op-Eds, Blogs, Shorter Works

Opinion Analysis: Supreme Court Forecloses Judicial Review That Could Save “Bad Patent Claims,” While Dissent Bemoans a “Rough Day” for Judicial Power, SCOTUSblog (April 21, 2020).
Argument Analysis: The Supreme Court Struggles with the ACA’s Patent Provisions, SCOTUSblog (April 28, 2017).
Argument Preview: The ACA Returns to the Supreme Court (This Time Disguised as a Hugely Complex Patent Case), SCOTUSblog (April 24, 2017).
Opinion Analysis: A “Substantial Portion of the Components” Means “More Than One Component”, SCOTUSblog (February 23, 2017).
Is Barney Frank Right about the President’s Power to Remove the CFPB Director? (with Aditya Bamzai), Notice & Comment (January 10, 2017).
Argument Analysis: The Word “Substantial” May Mean “A Whole Lot”, SCOTUSblog (December 7, 2016).
Argument Preview: Is There a Substantial Chance the Justices Will Affirm the Federal Circuit’s Reading of "Substantial"?, SCOTUSblog (November 29, 2016).
Tribute: Justice Scalia’s Hapless Law Clerk, SCOTUSblog (March 6, 2016).
Opinion Analysis: The Uncertain Expansion of Judge-Made Exceptions to Patentability, SCOTUSblog (June 20, 2014).
Opinion Analysis: The Triumph of the Lanham Act (and of Federal Private Rights of Action), SCOTUSblog (June 13, 2014).
Michelle Lee, Hal Wegner and Professor Scalia, PatentlyO Blog (December 21, 2013).
Let’s Get Rid of Kludgy Patent Fixes and Define the Non Obvious, Wired (November 16, 2012).

Current Courses

Administrative Law
Patent Law
Torts

All Courses

Torts
Administrative Law
Patent Law
International Intellectual Property Law

IN THE NEWS

02/12/2021
Judge Dyk Says Everyone May Be Looking At Arthrex Wrong (Law360)
10/13/2020
5 Questions From Tuesday’s Cert Grant on PTO Judge Appointments (The National Law Journal)
04/30/2020
Preview: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com (SCOTUSBlog)
04/21/2020
Opinion Analysis: Supreme Court Forecloses Judicial Review that Could Save ‘Bad Patent Claims,’ While Dissent Bemoans a ‘Rough Day’ for Judicial Power (SCOTUSBlog)
03/12/2020
The New Landscape of Administrative Adjudication (Duke Law School)
12/20/2019
‘Under a Cloud of Doubt’: Patent Practices Pivot Following the Federal Circuit’s ‘Arthrex’ Decision (The National Law Journal)
11/20/2019
Witnesses Tell House IP Subcommittee, ‘It’s Up to You’ to Fix Arthrex (IP Watchdog)
11/19/2019
Congress Should Weigh Arthrex ‘Fix,’ House Democrat Says (Bloomberg Law)
11/19/2019
Lawmakers Eye Possible Fix To PTAB’s Constitutional Flaw (Law360)
11/19/2019
Congressional Fix for PTAB Appointments Problem Could Come at Cost (The National Law Journal)
11/19/2019
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the Appointments Clause (U.S. House Judiciary Committee)
11/14/2019
Originalism and Changes in Technology (The Federalist Society)
11/13/2019
House Panel To Weigh Federal Circuit’s Patent Judges Ruling (Bloomberg Law)
11/01/2017
Review: The Justice On His Soapbox (The Wall Street Journal)
09/27/2017
John Duffy Testifies on Constitutionality of Bills to Protect Robert Mueller '73 in Russia Probe (USA Today)
05/23/2017
The Supreme Court's Big Ruling on 'Patent Trolls' Will Rock Businesses Everywhere (The Washington Post)
01/15/2017
Trump's Administration Will Regulate Trump's Businesses, Raising Prospect of Conflicts (Chicago Tribune)
01/13/2017
Barney Frank’s 2012 Argument for President’s Ability to Fire CFPB Chief (The Wall Street Journal)
01/10/2017
Is Barney Frank Right about the President’s Power to Remove the CFPB Director?, by Aditya Bamzai & John F. Duffy (Yale Journal on Regulation Blog)
12/15/2016
Patent Bar Braces for Game-Changing Supreme Court Case (Corporate Counsel)
11/29/2016
Argument Preview: Is There a Substantial Chance the Justices Will Affirm the Federal Circuit’s Reading of "Substantial"? (SCOTUSblog)
03/15/2016
The Chevron Doctrine: Constitutional and Statutory Questions in Judicial Deference to Agencies (House of Representatives Judiciary Committee)
03/14/2016
Federal Circuit Cool on Call to Curb EDTX Patent Cases" (The Recorder)
03/06/2016
Tribute: Justice Scalia's Hapless Law Clerk (SCOTUSblog)
02/25/2016
Questions Left After Death of Antonin Scalia (The Cavalier Daily)
02/15/2016
Mentee of Justice Scalia Remembers Him as Admirable Man (NBC29)
11/19/2015
The Role of Congress and Executive Agencies in 21st Century IP Regimes (The Federalist Society)
10/26/2015
Where does a Defendant 'Reside' for Jurisdictional Purposes in Patent Infringement Cases? (PatentlyO)
05/23/2015
Malkin: How Obama is Radically Ruining America's Strong Patent System (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)
05/22/2015
The Bipartisan 'Stick It to Individual Inventors' Act (National Review)
07/06/2014
Critics Fault Court's Grip on Appeals for Patents (The Wall Street Journal)
06/25/2014
The End of the Aereo Business Model? (Fox Business)
11/16/2012
Let's Get Rid of Kludgy Patent Fixes and Define the Non-Obvious (Wired)
08/16/2012
Analysis: Ruling Could Compromise U.S. Administrative Judges' Autonomy (Reuters)

AT UVA LAW

Intellectual Property at UVA Law (2022)
To Reform Bail, Subsidize It Like Jails, Professors Say in New Paper
Professors Elected to American Law Institute
Faculty Focus: Administrative Law
Professors Appointed to Federal Administrative Review Agency
Justice's Former Clerk John Duffy Reviews 'Scalia Speaks'
Scalia Speaks
John Duffy Testifies on Senate Bill Meant to Prevent Trump From Firing Special Counsel
Media Tip Sheet: UVA Law Experts Available for Comment on Supreme Court Decisions
Professor John Duffy on Legal Team That Wins Landmark Supreme Court 'Forum-Shopping' Case
Professor John F. Duffy Helps Bring 'Forum Shopping' Case to Supreme Court
Symposium Will Examine Expansion of Administrative Regulations
Professor John Duffy Shares Memories of Justice Antonin Scalia
Remembering Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
UVA Law's Intellectual Property Program, with Professor John Duffy
"Legal Innovation and the Progress of Law," with Professor John Duffy
"Becoming a Law Professor"
Intellectual Property at UVA Law (2022)

Featured Scholarship