Attention: Inventors and startups! Is the patent system confusing to you? Navigating the Patent System will give you more clarity regarding your potential next steps and increase your confidence as you make your patenting decisions. 7 Core Patent Concepts, Drafting the Patent Application and FAQs during patent process are explained.

Innovation benefits consumers through the development of new and improved goods, services, and processes. Competition and patents stand out among the federal policies that influence innovation. Both competition and patent policy can foster innovation, but each requires a proper balance with the other to do so. This report by the Federal Trade Commission discusses and makes recommendations for the patent system to maintain a proper balance with competition law and policy.

The first edition of this book was written by Jeffrey Schox for his course "Patent Law and Strategy for Innovators and Entrepreneurs" at Stanford University. After an introduction to intellectual property, it explores the patent system, the requirements for a patent, infringement, and inventorship and ownership issues. The second edition included the America Invents Act ("AIA"), which transformed the U.S. patent system from a "first-to-invent" system to a "first-inventor-to-file" system. The third edition added a glossary and general edits. The fourth edition includes five additional cases: KSR (Supreme Court 2007), Stanford v. Roche (Supreme Court 2011), Prometheus (Supreme Court 2012), Nautilus (Supreme Court 2014), and Limelight (Fed. Cir. 2015).

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.

TURN YOUR IDEA INTO AN INVENTION, AND YOUR INVENTION INTO AN ASSET! Do you have a brilliant idea, but don’t know how to protect it? This comprehensive guide from IP experts of DexPatent provides inventors, entrepreneurs, and small business owners with everything they need to understand the patent process, from concept to commercialization. ‘This book is all you need to start your patenting journey’ Dr. Steward Gracian, Founder & CEO, SocioDent ‘Should form part of a welcome kit across universities and corporate offices’ Dr. Vijay Singh, IP Manager, Indian Institute of Science Discover more resources at www.dexpatent.com