Description
The U.S. patent system is in an accelerating race with human ingenuity and investments in innovation. In many respects the system has responded with admirable flexibility, but the strain of continual technological change and the greater importance ascribed to patents in a knowledge economy are exposing weaknesses including questionable patent quality, rising transaction costs, impediments to the dissemination of information through patents, and international inconsistencies. A panel including a mix of legal expertise, economists, technologists, and university and corporate officials recommends significant changes in the way the patent system operates.
A Patent System for the 21st Century urges creation of a mechanism for post-grant challenges to newly issued patents, reinvigoration of the non-obviousness standard to quality for a patent, strengthening of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, simplified and less costly litigation, harmonization of the U.S., European, and Japanese examination process, and protection of some research from patent infringement liability.
Reviews
"The NAS [National Academy of Sciences] Report represents a major achievement in the continuing efforts directed towards improving the operation of the U.S. patent system. The NAS Report should not only be carefully studied, but it should serve as a call to action by the Congress and other U.S.-based organizations interested in the future of the U.S. patent laws. AIPLA endorses the main thrust of the NAS Report in each of the seven areas where recommendations have been made."
-American Intellectual Property Law Association
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