Policy Levers in Patent Law

Policy Levers in Patent Law

Burk*, Dan L., and Mark A. Lemley**
Virginia Law Review (2003): 1575-1696
https://doi.org/10.2307/3202360

* Professor at University of Minnesota
** Professor at UC Berkeley

“Patent law is our primary policy tool to promote innovation, encourage the development of new technologies, and increase the fund of human knowledge. To accomplish this end, the patent statute creates a general set of legal rules that govern a wide variety of technologies. With only a few exceptions, the statute does not distinguish between different technologies in setting and applying legal standards. Rather, the Supreme Court has held that patent standards in the United States are designed to adapt flexibly to both old and new technologies, encompassing “anything under the sun that is made by man.” In theory, then, we have a uniform patent system that provides technology-neutral protection to all kinds of innovation.”

— Dan Burk & Mark Lemley