Although the pivotal role of the inventiveness requirement in patent law is broadly accepted, it has long remained an ill-defined concept, and in current debates the question is often raised whether the requirement is capable of functioning as an adequate ‘gate-keeper’. By providing a broad and historical perspective on the inventiveness concept in patent law, this groundbreaking work lays a very thorough conceptual basis for further and more in-depth discussions on current standards of inventiveness. In a method guided by geography and chronology, the author weaves developments in numerous countries – focusing primarily on the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands – into a fullscale analysis of the inventiveness concept. Among the questions raised and examined are the following: - How do industrial–economic considerations influence the requirement? - Are there different doctrinal ‘schools of thought’ that can be distinguished? - Should the current requirement stay in close relationship with its predecessors or is it fundamentally different? - Which socio-economic and political forces have influenced or diverted the evolution of the requirement? - What are the most conspicuous similarities and dissimilarities among the jurisdictions under examination? And how can they be explained? - To what extent is the ‘inventive step’ requirement applied in a uniform manner within the European Patent Convention area? - To what extent has the enormous recent growth of patent grants been brought about by relaxation of the inventiveness requirement? This book provides crucially important fundamental commentary for lawyers, jurists, and scholars coming to grips with a hugely complex legal phenomenon: the dramatic growth worldwide in recent years of patents as instruments for the protection of industrial property. Particularly welcome in these times of intensifying scrutiny of patent law, this incomparable analysis will quickly become a cornerstone resource for intellectual property lawyers, patent officers, in-house counsel in multinational manufacturing companies, and other interested practitioners.

Report of an inquiry concerned with two broad issues: the patenting of genetic materials and technologies, and the exploitation of these patents and the distinction that can and possibly should be made between discoveries and inventions when referring to claims over genetic sequences.

Patent Law in Global Perspective addresses critical and timely questions in patent law from a truly global perspective, with contributions from leading patent law scholars from various countries. Offering fresh insights and new approaches to evaluating key institutional, economic, doctrinal, and practical issues, these chapters reflect critical analyses and review developments in national patent laws, efforts to reform the global patent system, and reconfigure geopolitical interests. Professors Ruth L. Okediji and Margo A. Bagley bring together the first collection to explore patent law issues through the lens of economic development theory, international relations, theoretical foundations for the patent law system in the global context, and more. Topics include: the role of patent law in economic development; the efficacy of patent rights in facilitating innovation; patents and access to medicines; comparative patentability standards (including subject matter eligibility for biotechnology and software inventions); limitations and exceptions to patent scope and protection (including exhaustion, compulsory licensing, and research exceptions); patents on plants and other living organisms; and the impact of emerging economies on global patent system governance. The contributors provide a wealth of original insight and thought-provoking discussion that will be of great interest and benefit to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners alike.

Nations throughout the world receive more patent applications, grant more patents, and entertain more patent infringement lawsuits than ever before. To understand the contemporary patent system, it is crucial to become familiar with how courts and other actors in different countries enable patent owners to enforce their rights. This is increasingly important, not only for firms that seek to market their products worldwide and for the lawyers who provide them with counsel, but also for scholars and policymakers working to develop better policies for promoting the innovation that drives long-term economic growth. Comparative Patent Remedies provides a critical and comparative analysis of patent enforcement in the United States and other major patent systems, including the European Union, Japan, Canada, Australia, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and India. Thomas Cotter shows how different countries respond to similar issues, and suggests how economic analysis can assist in adapting current practice to the needs of the modern world. Among the topics addressed are: how courts in various nations award monetary compensation for patent infringement, including lost profits, infringer's profits, and reasonable royalties; the conditions under which patent owners may obtain preliminary and permanent injunctions, including cross-border injunctions in the European Union; the availability of various options for potential defendants to challenge patent validity; and other matters, such as the availability of criminal enforcement and border measures to exclude infringing goods.

This Guide aims to assist users in searching for technology information using patent documents, a rich source of technical, legal and business information presented in a generally standardized format and often not reproduced anywhere else. Though the Guide focuses on patent information, many of the search techniques described here can also be applied in searching other non-patent sources of technology information.

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Erwin Schrödinger's book What is Life? had a tremendous influence on the development of molecular biology, stimulating scientists such as Watson and Crick to explore the physical basis of life. Much of the appeal of Schrödinger's book lay in its approach to the central problems in biology - heredity and how organisms use energy to maintain order - from a physicist's perspective. At Trinity College, Dublin a number of outstanding scientists from a range of disciplines gathered to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of What is Life? and following Schrödinger's example fifty years previously, presented their views on the current central problems in biology. The contributors to this volume include Stephen Jay Gould, Roger Penrose, Jared Diamond, Manfred Eigen, John Maynard Smith, Christien de Duve and Lewis Wolpert. This collection is essential reading for anyone interested in biology and its future.