Transcript Introduction to the Law

Patent Law
Jody Blanke, Professor
Computer Information Systems
and Law
Mercer University, Atlanta
U.S. Constitution
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Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution
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To promote the progress of science and
useful arts, by securing for limited times to
authors and inventors the exclusive right to
their respective writings and discoveries
Protection
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Patents protect the underlying idea
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Patents last for 20 years (from date of filing)
Patents protect from independent creation
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whereas copyrights protect only an expression (of
an idea)
e.g., Thomas Edison v. Joe Schmoe
copyrights do not
U.S. protects first to invent, not first to file
§ 101 Subject Matter
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Invention must be new and useful
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process
machine
manufacture, or
composition of matter
Can include “anything under the sun that is
made by man.”
Cannot include laws of nature, scientific
principles, mathematical formulas
§ 102 Novelty
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Cannot get a patent if
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the inventor did not himself invent the
subject matter
the invention was known or used by others
in the U.S. or patented or described in a
printed publication anywhere, or
the invention was in public use or on sale
in the U.S. more than one year prior to
filing
§ 103 Nonobviousness
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The differences between the invention
and the prior art must not have been
obvious at the time of invention to a
person having ordinary skill in the art
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e.g., cable ties
Sword or Shield
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Patents can be used offensively or
defensively
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may be held like a trump card
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e.g., Amazon v. Barnes & Noble
Patent holders may get greedy
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e.g., Compton’s Media, British Telecom
Opening of the Floodgates
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Software patents
Business method patents
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State Street Bank & Trust (1998)