Harvard Law School: Patent Law 2024

WEEK 1: The Patent System

• Lecture: Patent Fundamentals (Fisher) 
• January 24 (1:30-3:00): Employers, Employees, and Funders
  • Catherine Fisk, “Removing the ‘Fuel of Interest” from the ‘Fire of Genius’: Law and the Employee-Inventor, 1830-1930,” 65 University of Chicago Law Review 1127 (1998), pages 1127-37
  • Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Sys., 563 U.S. 776 (2011)
• January 25 (1:30-3:00): Joint Invention
  • Dana Farber Cancer Institute v. Ono Pharmaceutical Co. (CAFC 2020)

WEEK 2: Patent Policy

• Lecture:  Patent Policy (Fisher & Lander) 
• January 31 (1:30-3:00): The Implications of Behavioral Economics
  • Jolls, Sunstein, and Thaler, “A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics,” pages 1471-1489
  • Dennis Crouch, “The Patent Lottery: Exploiting Behavioral Economics for the Common Good,” 16 George Mason Law Review 141 (2008)
• February 1 (1:30-3:00): Non-utilitarian Theories
  • Peter Lee, “Toward a Distributive Agenda for U.S. Patent Law,” 55 Houston Law Review 321 (2017), pages 323-352

WEEK 3: Eligibility

• Lecture: Patentable Subject Matter (Fisher) 
• February 7 (1:30-3:00): Information Technology
  • Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank (SCOTUS 2014)
  • Manual of Patent Operating Procedure, Section 2106
• February 8 (1:30-3:00): Pharmaceutical Products  
  • Fisher & Syed, Rethinking Global Pharmaceutical Policy (draft 2023), chapter 2, pages 1-23
  • Dennis Choi et al., “Medicines for the Mind: Policy-Based “Pull” Incentives for Creating Breakthrough CNS Drugs,” Neuron 84 (2014)

WEEK 4: Utility and Disclosure

• Lecture:  Utility and Disclosure (Fisher) 
• February 14 (1:30-3:00): The U.S. Approach
  • Amgen v. Sanofi (SCOTUS 2023)
• February 15 (1:30-3:00): Other Jurisdictions
  • Regeneron Pharmaceuticals v. Kymab Ltd., 2020 UKSC 27

WEEK 5: Novelty

• Lecture: Newness, Parts A and B (Fisher)
• February 21 (1:30-3:00): Novelty Problems
  • 35 U.S.C. 102 (current)
  • 35 U.S.C. 102 (pre-AIA)
  • Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, 525 U.S. 55 (1998)
• February 22 (1:30-3:00): Applications
  • Steve Friess, “Super-Vision Camera Takes to Skies in Steve Fossett Search” (Wired 2007)
  • Geospatial Technology Associates v. United States (Court of Claims 2021)

Week 6: Nonobviousness

• Lecture: Newness, Part C (Fisher)
• February 28 (1:30-3:00): Case Law
  • Toyota v. Reactive Surfaces (CAFC 2020)
  • Chemours Company v. Daikin Industries (CAFC 2021)
• February 29 (1:30-3:00): Policy and Comparative Law
  • Actavis Group v. ICOS Corp. (UK Supreme Court 2019)

WEEK 7: Claims

• Lecture:  Patent Scope (Fisher)
• March 6 (1:30-3:00): Claim Interpretation in Comparative Perspective
  • Bagley, Okediji & Erstling, “Around the World with Claim Construction: The Improver Cases” (forthcoming 2021)
  • Protocol on the Interpretation of Article 69 EPC
• March 7 (1:30-3:00): Claim Drafting
  • Case Study:  BeachBUB
  • WIPO Patent Drafting Manual (2d ed. 2023), pages 39-54

WEEK 8: Infringement

• Lecture:  Infringement (Fisher) 
• March 20 (1:30-3:00): Designs
  • Egyptian Goddess (CAFC 2008)
  • Apple v. Samsung, 678 F.3d 1314 (2012):  pages 1329-33
• March 21 (1:30-3:00): Parallel Importation and Differential Pricing
  • Impression Products v. Lexmark (SCOTUS 2017)

WEEK 9: Remedies

• Lecture:  Remedies (Fisher)
• March 27 (1:30-3:00): The Evolution of Patent Remedies
  • Jonathan Barnett, “Has the Academy Led Patent Law Astray?,” 32 Berkeley Technology Law Review 1313 (2017), pp. 1316-1320, 1361-1379
• March 28 (1:30-3:00): The Unified Patent Court
  • Van Dongen, Lisa, Proportionality and Flexibilities in Final Injunctive Relief (April 26, 2023). Alain Strowel and others (eds), The Unified Patent Court: Problems, Possible Improvements and Alternatives (Ledizioni, 2023)., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4626842

WEEK 10: Patent Practice

• Lecture: Patent Litigation (Lee)
• April 3 (1:30-3:00): Business Strategy
  • Apple, Inc. (PatentX Case Study 001) (2020)
• April 4 (1:30-3:00): Litigation Strategy
  • Jane Goodman-Delahunty et al., “Insightful or Wishful: Lawyers’ Ability to Predict Case Outcomes,” Psychology, Public Policy and Law 16 (2010): 133
  • Guest Speaker: Louis Tompros

WEEKS 11 & 12: Frontiers

• A. Standard Essential Patents (April 10, 1:30-3:00)
  • Lecture: Standard Essential Patents (Contreras)
  • Ginsburg, Douglas H. and Wright, Joshua D. and Ringeling, Camila, Growing Convergence: The Limited Role of Antitrust in Standard Essential Patent Disputes (July 2021). CPI Antitrust Chronicle July 2021, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3904008
• B. COVID-19 (April 11, 1:30-3:00)
  • World Trade Organization, Council for TRIPS, Thematic Session, October 23, 2023, Report of the Chair
• C. Fintech (April 17, 1:30-3:00)
  • Lecture: Fintech (Fisher) 
  • Mathew Heim and Igor Nikolic, A FRAND Regime for Dominant Digital Platforms, 10 (2019) JIPITEC 38
• D. Artificial Intelligence (April 18, 1:30-3:00)
  • Matthew Hutson, “AI for drug discovery is booming, but who owns the patents?,” 41 Nature Biotechnology 1494 (2023)

Guidelines for Class Discussions

Class Presentations

• January 24
• January 25
• January 31
• February 1
• February 7
  • American Axle
  • PERA
• February 8
• February 14
  • Utility Problems
  • Amgen
• February 15
  • Regeneron
• February 21
  • Novelty Problems
  • Novelty Analysis
• February 28
  • Archer
• February 29:
  • Nabisco
  • Fingerprints
  • Extrusions
  • SRAM
  • Salty Frog
  • Actavis
• March 6
  • Inventive Step Policy
  • CNS Disorders
• March 20
  • Design Patents
• March 21
  • Differential Pricing
• March 27
  • Siemens
  • Patent Damages Policy
• April 11
  • COVID
• April 17
  • Fintech Scale
  • Fintech Geography
  • Fintech Patents
• April 18
  • AI

Prior Examinations

• Patent Law Examination 2021
  • Model Answer #1
  • Model Answer #2