By David KlineCritics of the patent system claim we are witnessing an “explosion of patent litigation” unlike any in history that is harming business and diverting resources better spent on innovation. According to Lex Machina, a respected legal analytics firm, there...
By David Kline In June of 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in one of the most consequential cases affecting the patent system. On the surface, Cuozzo Speed Technologies v. Lee was about whether the Patent Office (PTO) can use a different standard...
By David KlineThe latest figures indicate that the total cost of patent infringement, pirated software, counterfeit goods, and theft of trade secrets costs the U.S. economy somewhere between $225 billion to $600 billion each and every year. And according to the...
By David Kline Do patents really promote innovation? This is a matter of no small disagreement. So to answer it, let’s start with the basics: What causes innovation in the first place? Economists have repeatedly demonstrated that inventors are driven primarily by the...
by James Pooley Employers today increasingly require their employees to sign a contract promising not to compete for a period of time after they leave a firm. Employers justify these “non-compete” agreements as necessary to protect trade secrets. The protection of...
