Drafting Patents for Litigation and Licensing, Fourth Edition

A highly respected legal resource, this two-volume treatise provides an up-to-date resource for intellectual property professionals who provide prosecution services and risk analyses to clients in evolving litigation environments. Representing the collaborative effort of highly experienced attorneys, Drafting Patents for Litigation and Licensing focuses on real-life examples taken from court decisions, especially those from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in which patents are interpreted, enforced, or licensed. Lessons gleaned from these decisions are broken out by principle and area of technology, providing detailed advice for drafting strong patents, avoiding problems, and maximizing leverage.

This new edition has been updated to reflect on the significant, ten-year legacy of the landmark Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) and the significant reform it has had on patent practice with extensive implementation and rulemaking initiatives. Additional impact from this legislation, particularly in the form of decisions by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board on issues of claim scope and validity, requires further guidance for practitioners in understanding the law, as well as recent Supreme Court decisions on patent eligibility and enforcement have led to significant confusion and inconsistency in application of the case law in claim drafting and claim interpretation.

This expanded, two-volume edition provides an organized review of these initiatives and court lessons together with practical guidance for applying them. It analyzes the key developments since the Third Edition, including discussions of important court decisions that affect the scope and validity of patents and the impact of recent Supreme Court opinions. It also serves as a valuable benefit to patent practitioners by providing insight into further legislative and judicial advancements in the patent system. As the attention to further patent law reform generates additional activity in Congress and the courts, this treatise and its supplements will continue to present ongoing information for navigating change.