The Chilling Effects of the DMCA
This wasn’t the first time the DMCA had interfered with my security research. Back in 2001, my colleagues and I had had to withdraw a peer-reviewed paper about CD copy [...]
An Overview of the “Patent Trolls” Debate
Congress has recently demonstrated significant ongoing interest in litigation by “patent assertion entities” (PAEs), which are colloquially known as “patent trolls” and sometimes referred to as “non-practicing entities” (NPEs). The [...]
Patent Assertion and U.S. Innovation
Suits brought by [patent assertion entities, or "patent trolls"] have tripled in just the last two years, rising from 29 percent of all infringement suits to 62 percent of all [...]
Keynote Address: Is It Time To Abolish The Federal Circuit’s Exclusive Jurisdiction in Patent Cases?
The argument in favor of a specialized court for patent appeals is that this is an area where an expert court is particularly beneficial. But that proposition is contestable from [...]
Collateral Damages: Why Congress Needs To Fix Copyright Law’s Civil Penalties
In most areas of the law, we try to avoid this kind of unfairness [in payouts from civil litigation] and uncertainty by making sure that we tie penalties to the [...]
The Evidence is In: Patent Trolls Do Hurt Innovation
Research shows that patent trolls cost defendant firms $29 billion per year in direct out-of-pocket costs; in aggregate, patent litigation destroys over $60 billion in firm wealth each year. While [...]
Are Settlements in Patent Litigation Collusive? Evidence from Paragraph IV Challenges
The use of “pay-for-delay” settlements in patent litigation – in which a branded manufacturer and generic entrant settle a Paragraph IV patent challenge and agree to forestall entry – has [...]
Low-Quality Patents in the Eye of the Beholder: Evidence from Multiple Examiners
Low-quality patents are of considerable concern to businesses operating in patent-dense markets. There are two pathways by which low-quality patents may be issued: the patent office may apply systematically a [...]
The Unpredictable Prospects of Patenting Cancer Innovation
There is great variability with respect to patenting cancer innovation. Cancer patent application allowance rates range from 20.5% to 100.0%, with even similarly situated Art Units showing a wide disparity.Kate [...]
The New World of Agency Adjudication
In 1946, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) set forth the basics for “formal” adjudication, with the classic account requiring an administrative law judge to make the initial determination and the [...]