Highly respected and experienced U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner recently stepped out of his role as a jurist to author a thought-provoking article in The Atlantic onJuly 12 on the patent system. Titled “Why There Are Too Many Patents in America,” the article concludes with a suggestion of “a variety of measures that could be taken to alleviate the problems [discussed earlier in the article].” Those “problems” and possible solutions, given Posner’s reputation, will most likely be taken seriously by many. Whether they will withstand analysis is open to question.
Cited by The Wall Street Journal onJuly 24 in conjunction with its article on the major smartphone patent battle between Samsung and Apple, Posner’s Atlantic article follows his decision, as a trial court judge, dismissing all claims and counterclaims in another smartphone patent battle involving Apple and Google. There he found no plausible support for the damage claims of either company. One can only speculate that Posner’s underlying personal view of patents tainted his judicial view.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]