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...
By David KlineAn arms race in patents. A surge in high-cost patent litigation. And the emergence of unscrupulous patent trolls who use the threat of lawsuits to extort nuisance settlements.These are the costly side effects — the dark side, if you will — of America’s...