September 2018
I knew that a country without a patent office and good patent laws was just a crab, and couldn't travel any way but sideways or backways. —Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court A patent helps to secure a place in the market for an invention. That is why many inventors take time, make an effort, and pay a significant amount of money to patent their inventions. Inventors often do not realize that grant of a U.S. patent is always conditional. Like everyone else, patent examiners make mistakes. The patent office (Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)) or a federal court can decide at any time during the life of a patent that the patent should never have been granted. The result is an invalidated patent that provides no benefit to the patent owner. Truth is often hard to ascertain and reasonable individuals can disagree on what the truth is. Does our current patent system provide enough certainty for individual inventors and investors to risk