Can the Patent Office Be Fixed?

Lemley, Mark A.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1668203

Abstract

References (25)

Download This Paper | Share | Email |Add to Briefcase

Can the Patent Office Be Fixed?

Mark A. Lemley

Stanford Law School

August 29, 2010

Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 396

Abstract:
How can we fix the PTO, allowing examiners to effectively distinguish between patentable and unpatentable inventions, without slowing the process to a crawl or wasting a bunch of money? This essay reviews the recent literature and considers a number of proposals and their problems. It concludes that we can make the PTO better, but are unlikely to solve the problem of bad patents.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 17

Keywords: intellectual property, patent, PTO, patent reform

JEL Classification: O34

working papers series

Download This Paper

Date posted: August 30, 2010 ; Last revised: March 12, 2013

Suggested Citation

Lemley, Mark A., Can the Patent Office Be Fixed? (August 29, 2010). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 396. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1668203 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1668203

Contact Information

Mark A. Lemley (Contact Author)

Stanford Law School ( email )

559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA 94305-8610
United States