Patent Law: An Open-Source Casebook (Chapter 5: Anticipation)

Abstract

Less than a handful of casebooks are truly open source, in the sense of being fully modifiable. Patent Law: An Open-Source Casebook is the first patent law casebook that provides adopting professors, students, and others the ability to fully modify its contents. This chapter of the casebook covers anticipation and the application of 35 U.S.C. § 102 both pre- and post-AIA. The chapter introduces the concept of anticipation (including the single-source test, inherency, and the enabling reference standard), the loss-of-right doctrines (including those based on documentary prior art, public use, and the on-sale bar), prior art based on prior-filed patent applications, and other forms of patent-defeating prior art (including the concept of derivation and the pre-AIA novelty provisions).

Keywords: patent law, patents, casebook, open source, anticipation, inherency, prior art, public use, on-sale bar, derivation, America Invents Act, novelty

JEL Classification: O30