Perspectives on Patentable Subject Matter

434 Pages·2014·2.451 MB·English

by  Michael B. Abramowicz, James E. Daily, F. Scott Kieff

perspectives on patentable subject matter
PerspectivesonPatentableSubjectMatterbringstogetherleadingscholarstoofferdiverse
perspectivesononeofthemostpressingissuesinpatentlaw:thebasicquestionabout
which types of subject matter are even eligible for patent protection, setting aside the
widelyknownrequirementthataclaimedinventionavoidsthepriorartandisadequately
disclosed.Someleadingcommentatorsandpolicy-makingbodiesandindividualsenvi-
sion patentable subject matter to include anything under the sun made by humans,
whereas other thought leaders envision a range of restrictions for particular fields of
endeavor,frombusinessmethodsandcomputersoftwaretomattersinvolvinglife,such
asDNAandmethodsforscreeningortreatingdisease.Employingapproachesthatare
boththeoreticallyrigorousandgroundedintherealworld,thisbookiswellsuitedfor
practicinglawyers,managers,lawmakers,andanalysts,aswellasacademicsconducting
researchorteachingarangeofcoursesinlaw,business,andpublicpolicyschoolsand
ineconomicsandpoliticalsciencedepartments,ateithertheundergraduateorgraduate
level.
Michael Abramowicz is a professor at the George Washington University Law School
in Washington,DC,whospecializes in lawandeconomics,spanningareasincluding
intellectualproperty,civilprocedure,corporatelaw,administrativelaw,andinsurance
law. His research has been published in the California Law Review, Columbia Law
Review, Cornell Law Review, Harvard Law Review, Michigan Law Review, New York
UniversityLawReview,StanfordLawReview,UniversityofChicagoLawReview,Virginia
Law Review, and Yale Law Journal. He is the author of the 2008 book Predictocracy:
MarketMechanismsforPublicandPrivateDecisionMaking.
JamesE.Dailyisthepostdoctoralresearchassociateforandadministrativedirectorof
theHooverProjectonCommercializingInnovation.AsanattorneylicensedinMissouri
andapatentagentregisteredwiththeU.S.PatentandTrademarkOffice,hisresearch
interests include open source models of innovation, the role of open source in the
marketplace,andtheinteractionsbetweenopensourceandintellectualproperty.Heis
alsothecreatorandco-authoroftheblog“LawandtheMultiverse”andtheco-author
ofthe2012bookTheLawofSuperheroes.
F.ScottKieffisonleavefromhispostasFredC.StevensonResearchProfessoratthe
GeorgeWashingtonUniversityLawSchoolinWashington,DC,havingbeennominated
byPresidentBarackH.Obama,andconfirmedbytheSenate,toserveasacommissioner
oftheU.S.InternationalTradeCommission.Beforetakinguphisgovernmentpost,he
was also the Ray and Louise Knowles Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover
Institution,wherehedirectedtheHooverProjectonCommercializingInnovation.He
hasalsoregularlyservedasatestifyingandconsultingexpert,mediator,andarbitratorfor
lawfirms,businesses,governmentagencies,andcourtsandonarangeofgovernment
panelsrelatingtothebusinessandtechnologysectors.Heworkedonthisbookwhilein
hisacademicpositions,beforebeingsworninandtakinghisgovernmentpost.

Perspectives on Patentable Subject Matter
Editedby
MICHAEL ABRAMOWICZ
GeorgeWashingtonUniversityLawSchool
JAMES E. DAILY
WashingtonUniversityinSt.LouisSchoolofLaw
F. SCOTT KIEFF
GeorgeWashingtonUniversityLawSchool
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107070912
(cid:2)C MichaelAbramowicz,JamesE.Daily,andF.ScottKieff2015
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2015
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Perspectivesonpatentablesubjectmatter/editedbyMichaelAbramowicz,JamesE.Daily,
F.ScottKieff.
pagescm
isbn978-1-107-07091-2(hardback)
1.Patentlawsandlegislation. I.Abramowicz,Michael,editor. II.Daily,James,editor. III.Kieff,F.
Scott,editor.
k1505.p45 2014
346.04ʹ86–dc23 2014020981
isbn978-1-107-07091-2Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurlsforexternalor
third-partyinternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontenton
suchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Contributors pagevii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
MichaelAbramowicz,JamesE.Daily,andF.ScottKieff
1 “Clues”forDeterminingWhetherBusinessandService
InnovationsAreUnpatentableAbstractIdeas 8
PamelaSamuelsonandJasonSchultz
2 StillAimingattheWrongTarget:ACaseforBusiness
MethodandSoftwarePatentsfromaBusinessPerspective 29
KristenOsenga
3 Semiotics101:TakingthePrintedMatterDoctrineSeriously 45
KevinEmersonCollins
4 PatentEligibilityasaPolicyLevertoRegulatethePatenting
ofPersonalizedMedicine 114
ChristopherM.Holman
5 TheInducementStandardofPatentability 151
MichaelAbramowiczandJohnF.Duffy
6 PatentingtheCurveBall:BusinessMethodsandIndustry
Norms 225
GerardN.Magliocca
v
vi Contents
7 BusinessandFinancialMethodPatents,Innovation,and
Policy 248
BronwynH.Hall
8 TheLitigationofFinancialInnovations 277
JoshLerner
9 PatentSearchandCumulativeInnovation 303
MichaelJ.Meurer
10 TheVonageTrilogy:ACaseStudyin“PatentBullying” 313
TedR.Sichelman
11 UniversitySoftwareOwnershipandLitigation:AFirst
Examination 336
ArtiK.Rai,JohnR.Allison,andBhavenN.Sampat
12 TheIndividualInventorMotifintheAgeofthePatentTroll 376
ChristopherA.Cotropia
13 AnythingUndertheSunMadebyHumans:PatentLaw
DoctrinesasEndogenousInstitutionsforCommercializing
Innovation 403
JamesE.DailyandF.ScottKieff
Index 415
Contributors
MichaelAbramowiczProfessor,GeorgeWashingtonUniversityLawSchool
John R. Allison Mary John and Ralph Spence Centennial Professor of Business
Administration,UniversityofTexasatAustin
KevinEmersonCollinsProfessorofLaw,WashingtonUniversityinSt.Louis
Christopher A. Cotropia Professor of Law and Austin Owen Research Fellow,
UniversityofRichmond
JamesE.DailyResearchTechnologist,WashingtonUniversityinSt.LouisSchool
ofLaw,CenterforEmpiricalResearchintheLaw
John F. Duffy Samuel H. McCoy II Professor of Law and Armistead M. Dobie
ProfessorofLaw,UniversityofVirginia
Bronwyn H. Hall Professor of Economics, Emerita, University of California,
Berkeley
ChristopherM.HolmanProfessorofLaw,UniversityofMissouri–KansasCity
F.ScottKieffProfessor,GeorgeWashingtonUniversityLawSchool,andRayand
Louise Knowles Senior Fellow at Stanford University Hoover Institution on War,
Revolution,andPeace*
* KiefftookaleaveofabsencefromGeorgeWashingtonUniversityLawSchoolandresignedfrom
StanfordUniversityHooverInstitutiontotakeuphispostasacommissionerattheU.S.International
TradeCommission(USITC).Heworkedonthisbookbeforetakinguphisgovernmentpost.The
viewsexpressedinthisbookarethoseoftheauthorsofthevariouschaptersanddonotnecessarily
reflectthoseoftheco-editors.Noraretheviewsexpressedinthisbookproperlyattributabletothe
USITC.
vii
viii Contributors
JoshLernerJacobH.SchiffProfessorofInvestmentBanking,HarvardUniversity
GerardN.MaglioccaSamuelR.RosenProfessorofLaw,IndianaUniversity
Michael J. Meurer Abraham and Lillian Benton Scholar and Professor of Law,
BostonUniversity
KristenOsengaProfessorofLaw,UniversityofRichmond
ArtiK.RaiElvinR.LattyProfessorofLaw,DukeUniversity
Bhaven N. Sampat Associate Professor at the Mailman School of Public Health,
ColumbiaUniversity
PamelaSamuelsonRichardM.ShermanDistinguishedProfessorofLaw,University
ofCaliforniaatBerkeley
JasonSchultzAssociateProfessorofClinicalLaw,NewYorkUniversity
TedR.SichelmanProfessorofLaw,UniversityofSanDiego