One of the most interesting developments in patent law during the last century is the catastrophic collapse of the paper patent doctrine, which had authorized courts to discriminate against patents that were never successfully practiced by their patentees. The doctrine's demise opened the door for the dramatic and controversial rise in patent litigation by "nonpracticing entities" or "patent trolls"-entities that, in the words of President Obama, "don't actually produce anything themselves." This Article undertakes a comprehensive review of this lost doctrine and shows that the doctrine took a balanced approach, hurting patentees who never developed their technologies but helping those who had. The doctrine declined because it could not be reconciled with the theoretically impoverished views about information disclosure embraced by courts of the late twentieth century. With the advent of more sophisticated theories about the value of learning-by-doing and, more generally, about the problems associated with generating and disseminating information, the paper patent doctrine now has what it lacked in the past-a solid theory for favoring patents that were taught not just through paper disclosure but also by real-world practice. This Article concludes that the paper patent doctrine should be revived and that existing case law provides a sufficient foundation for a revival.
This Essay expounds on the outsized role of private law in governing ownership of new technologies and data. As scholars lament gaps between law and...
The 2024 edition of Selected Intellectual Property, Internet, and Information Law, Statutes, Regulations, and Treaties, edited by Professors Sharon K...
As the knowledge economy expanded and concerns about trade secret misappropriation mounted in the digital age, federal policymakers undertook efforts...
The 2023 edition of Selected Intellectual Property, Internet, and Information Law Statutes, Regulations, and Treaties, edited by Professors Sharon K...
In 2018 the U.S. government announced that Chinese espionage was occurring in university research labs, and the Department of Justice subsequently...
The 2022 edition of Selected Intellectual Property, Internet, and Information Law Statutes, Regulations, and Treaties, edited by Professors Sharon K...
Obtaining or resisting some form of equitable relief is a key component of many trade secret disputes, both at an early stage and following trial on...
This chapter analyzes the extraterritorial provision in the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and considers the arguments on both sides of the question...
The 2021 edition of this annual volume marks a transition from Roger Schechter’s longtime editorship of Selected Intellectual Property and Unfair...
This is the third edition of the first casebook in the United States devoted exclusively to trade secret law. As with previous editions, it is...
TOTM Symposium: Retrospective on Ajit Pai's Tenure as FCC Chairman. The following is part of a digital symposium by TOTM guests and authors on the...
This Article presents the first qualitative empirical review of permanent injunctions in trade secret cases. In addition, it explores the extent to...
The Supreme Court’s decision in Merrill v. Yeomans is widely and correctly viewed as a watershed case in which the Court first announced that the...
A simple observation started us off in writing Right on Time. Studying and teaching intellectual property law, we noticed striking parallels between...
Most people assume, if implicitly, that there is a substantial element of uniformity in our IP system. At first blush, our copyright and patent laws...