Patent Fakes: How Fraudulent Inventions Threaten Public Health, Innovation, and the Economy

Abstract

Because there is no practical way for patent examiners to verify that the inventions claimed in patent applications actually work, a surprising number of patents are issued for inventions that have turned out to be imaginary, fraudulent or otherwise non-existent. What's more, as illustrated by the recent attempt by Labrador Diagnostics to assert a patent acquired from now-defunct Theranos against firms developing testing kits for COVID-19, these patents present a genuine threat to businesses operating in important sectors of the economy. While it is unrealistic to expect patent examiners to verify the functionality of every claimed invention, there are a range of administrative adjustments that could be made to reduce the number of fake inventions subject to patents.

Keywords: Patent, Examination, PTO, Enablement