U.S. patent law is a “failed system,” Judge...
U.S. patent law is a “failed system,” Judge Richard Posner of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday during a Federalist Society teleforum. The system’s failure lies within both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the federal…
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court system, he said. The USPTO is not adequately staffed or managed to deal with the volume of patent applications it receives, Posner said. And the courts are failing to address the problem because patent trials routinely allow for expert witnesses paid by the parties in a case, as well as lay juries that do not understand all of the intricacies of a patent case, he said. Posner specifically faulted the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles many of the higher-profile patent cases, because he feels the court has “a tendency to take a promotional view” of the activities it regulates. “I think we have the best patent system on the planet,” said Paul Michel, chief judge on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Michel defended his court’s record on patent cases as being “quite balanced.” He also defended USPTO’s recent record, noting that current office Director David Kappos had instituted reforms that have improved patent examiners’ training and level of experience. Those reforms have resulted in a USPTO that is “much improved” from four years ago, Michel said (http://xrl.us/bn7c2f).