Patent Demand - A Simple Path to Patent Reform

Abstract

The patent system in the United States was intended to help promote the useful arts by providing inventors of new technologies the time-limited right to exclude others from the market in exchange for disclosure of their inventions. Thus, it was thought, inventors would be fairly compensated for their contributions, and society would benefit by the early disclosure of inventions thereby encouraging more rapid evolution of technology. Recently, however, dissatisfaction with the product of the modern patent system has led to calls for massive legislative patent reform, significant patent decisions by the United States Supreme Court and efforts for systemic reform proposed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).