How Courts Adjudicate Patent Definiteness and Disclosure

Section 112 of the Patent Act requires patentees to clearly explain what their invention is (a requirement known as claim definiteness), as well as how to make and use it (the disclosure requirements of enablement and written description). Many concerns about the modern patent system stem from these requirements. But despite the critical importance of § 112 to the functioning of the patent system, there is surprisingly little empirical data about how it has been applied in practice. To remedy the reliance on anecdotes, we have created a hand-coded dataset of 1144 reported court decisions from 1982 to 2012 in which U.S. district courts or the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rendered a decision on the enablement, written-description, or claim-definiteness requirements of § 112. We coded validity outcomes under these three doctrines on a novel five-level scale so as to capture significant subtlety in the strength of each decision, and we also classified patents by technology and industry categories. We also coded for a number of litigation characteristics that could arguably influence outcomes. Although one must be cautious about generalizing from reported decisions due to selection effects, our results show some statistically significant disparities in § 112 outcomes for different technologies and industries—although fewer than the conventional wisdom suggests, and not always in the direction that many have believed. Just as importantly, our analysis reveals significant relationships between other variables and § 112 litigation outcomes, including whether a district court or the Federal Circuit made the last decision in a case, whether a patent claim was drafted in means-plus-function format, and whether a case was decided before or after Markman v. Westview Instruments. Our results showing how § 112 has been applied in practice will be helpful in evaluating current proposals for reform, and our rich dataset will enable more systematic studies of these critical doctrines in the future

SMALL FARM POLYPERIOD PLANNING MODEL FOR DEVELOPING ECONOMIES

Farm Management,

A TECHNIQUE TO ESTIMATE INPUT PRODUCTIVITY FROM FARM DATA

Productivity Analysis,

ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION OF DAIRY MANURE UTILIZATION FOR YEAR ROUND CROP PRODUCTION

The production of excess on-farm manure is placing continuous pressures on dairy producers to meet or exceed standards for environmental regulations while maintaining profitability and competitiveness. Evaluation of the effects of recycling nutrients on the profitability of the whole farm enterprise is important for a dairy operation. The objective of this study was to develop a linear programming model that evaluates the economic performance of a dairy operation considering production and environmental constraints. The main goal was to maximize profits from the dairy enterprise considering milk production, manure production, crop production while maintaining a balance of nutrients in the system. Results from simulation analyses showed greater effects on total farm profits at the more restrictive P-based than N-based manure application rates.Environmental Economics and Policy,

An Analysis of the Vertical Price-Nonprice Dichotomy

The debate concerning the appropriateness of existing antitrust standards for distribution (vertical) restrictions continues unabated. Some observers have criticized current national antitrust policy, which treats vertical price restraints (usually referred to as either resale price maintenance or vertical price fixing) as per se illegal and vertical nonprice restraints as illegal only if found unduly anticompetitive under the rule of reason, as being seriously lacking in theoretical unity. These commentators usually contend that resale price maintenance, like vertical nonprice restraints, should be judged under the rule of reason. A few have even called expressly for a rule of per se legality for all forms of vertical restraint On the other hand, current policy toward vertical restrictions is not without scholarly support

How We Can Pay for Health Care Reform

Describes savings and revenue sources and policies to reduce healthcare spending that could finance comprehensive reform with a public option, such as reducing physician and hospital payments, investing in prevention programs, and capping tax exclusions