1. Patent Law Jody Blanke, Professor Computer Information Systems and Law Mercer University, Atlanta

6. U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries

7. Protection Patents protect the underlying idea whereas copyrights protect only an expression (of an idea) e.g., Thomas Edison v. Joe Schmoe Patents last for 20 years (from date of filing) Patents protect from independent creation copyrights do not U.S. protects first to invent, not first to file

8. § 101 Subject Matter Invention must be new and useful process machine manufacture, or composition of matter Can include “anything under the sun that is made by man.” Cannot include laws of nature, scientific principles, mathematical formulas

9. § 102 Novelty Cannot get a patent if the inventor did not himself invent the subject matter the invention was known or used by others in the U.S. or patented or described in a printed publication anywhere, or the invention was in public use or on sale in the U.S. more than one year prior to filing

10. § 103 Nonobviousness The differences between the invention and the prior art must not have been obvious at the time of invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art e.g., cable ties

11. Sword or Shield Patents can be used offensively or defensively may be held like a trump card e.g., Amazon v. Barnes & Noble Patent holders may get greedy e.g., Compton’s Media, British Telecom

12. Opening of the Floodgates Software patents Business method patents State Street Bank & Trust (1998)