The patent crisis and how the courts can solve it - Burk, Dan L. (University of Chicago Press, 2009)
Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-209) and index
The gathering storm -- Foundations of the patent system -- Cracks in the foundation -- The diversity of innovation -- The industry-specific nature of the patent system -- Heterogeneity in patent theory : why we can't agree why we patent -- Parts of the elephant : how industry perspective drives patent theory -- Why courts and not Congress offer a way out of the crisis -- Policy levers in existing patent cases -- More we can do : potential new policy levers -- Levers in a specific industry--biotechnology -- Levers at work--the IT industry
Patent law is crucial to encourage technological innovation. But as the patent system currently stands, diverse industries from pharmaceuticals to software to semiconductors are all governed by the same rules even though they innovate very differently. The result is a crisis in the patent system, where patents calibrated to the needs of prescription drugs wreak havoc on information technologies and vice versa. According to Dan L. Burk and Mark A. Lemley in The Patent Crisis and How the Courts Can Solve It, courts should use the tools the patent system already gives them to treat patents in dif