Courts have long struggled with determining what makes an invention eligible for a patent by applying broad and ill-defined “I know it when I see it” tests that sometimes prevent breakthrough technologies from receiving...more
The doctrine of assignor estoppel bars an inventor who assigns a patent to a third party from later arguing that the assigned patent is invalid. The Supreme Court has now upheld this doctrine but has limited its scope,...more
States and their agencies, particularly state universities, are often parties to patent infringement litigation in federal courts. An increasingly common defense to infringement allegations is to ask the Patent Office to...more