Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Recovery of Damages for Use of the Invention Claimed in a Published Patent Application

By Jitendra Malik, Ph.D. and Michael S. Connor
January 28, 2005

Part One of a Two-Part Series

For about 200 years, the United States kept all patent applications confidential prior to issuance of a patent. Sabra Chartrand, A New Law Removes Some Secrecy From the Applications, N.Y. Times, Dec. 4, 2000, at C6. However, as the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) noted, secrecy eventually gave way to global harmonization. Id. Under the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (“AIPA”), patent applications are published by the USPTO 18 months after the earliest claimed filing date. 35 U.S.C. '122(b) (2004). This change in U.S. patent practice presented a risk that a patent applicant's invention, once publicly disclosed, would be vulnerable to unrestrained use until the patent, with its associated intellectual property protections, actually issued. To address the vulnerabilities of a patent applicant prior to issuance of a patent, Congress enacted the Provisional Rights subsection as part of the AIPA.

Read These Next
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later Image

The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.

The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs Image

The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.

Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations Image

This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.

A Lawyer's System for Active Reading Image

Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.

Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.