Brief Amici Curiae of Intellectual Property Professors in Support of Petitoner

Congress enacted the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in 1946 as a comprehensive statute to regulate the field of federal administrative law. In holding that the PTO Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences is not subject to the standards of judicial review set forth in the APA, the [Zurko] decision isolates patent law from the rest of administrative law and undermines the APA’s goal of achieving consistency and uniformity in federal administrative law

The Federal Circuit: A Model for Reform?

Are our federal courts organized suitably to perform their mission of assuring coherent administration of our national law? Maybe not. The senior author of this Article, along with many others, argued to the contrary forty years ago. Now, experience with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit tends to confirm that an alternative structure of the federal judiciary could better serve the need for coherent national law, and without serious adverse consequences. Perhaps, therefore, it is now time for Congress to reconsider the matter. We here suggest the possibility that the United States replicate the structure of the appellate courts of the Federal Republic of Germany, which, like the Federal Circuit, are specialized to assure coherent and consistent interpretation of that nation’s laws. Advances in technology have greatly reduced the need for the traditional regionalization of the federal appellate process, so that the model supplied by the Federal Circuit may offer new hope that our national law could be administered with substantially greater coherence and efficiency than the present system of conflicted circuits allows

Claim Re-Construction: The Doctrine of Equivalents in the Post-Markman Era

In the post-Markman era, the Federal Circuit has focused attention on the public notice function of patent claims in equivalents cases, and it has come to emphasize precision and accuracy in claim drafting. This Article argues that recent judicial emphasis on the public notice function of patent claims is an inappropriate innovation policy. The demand for highly refined patent claims increases patent acquisition expenditures that are unlikely to increase social welfare, cause patent rights to be distributed unevenly, and are inconsistent with the structural features of the patent system. This Article presents two mechanisms to accommodate the doctrine of equivalents in the post-Markman era. One is the reinvigoration of the reissue proceeding. The other is allowing judicial amendment of patent claims during infringement litigation proceedings, much like the longstanding British practice. This shift would allow courts to pursue the policy goals of Markman for literal and equivalent infringement alike

Introduction: The Law, Technology & The Arts Symposium: Copyright in the Digital Age: Reflection on Tasini and Beyond

Introduction tp The Law, Technology & The Arts Symposium: Copyright in the Digital Age: Reflection on Tasini and Beyond, Cleveland, Ohio

Introduction: The Law, Technology & the Arts Symposium: The Past, Present and Future of the Federal Circuit

Introduction to The Law, Technology & the Arts Symposium: The Past, Present and Future of the Federal Circuit, Cleveland, Ohio