Perspectives on Patentable Subject Matter

Michael B. Abramowicz · James E. Daily · F. Scott Kieff

Nov 2014 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

Perspectives on Patentable Subject Matter brings together leading scholars to offer diverse perspectives on the question of which types of subject matter are even eligible for patent protection, setting aside the widely known requirement that a claimed invention avoid the prior art and be adequately disclosed. Some leading commentators and policy-making bodies and individuals envision patentable subject matter to include anything under the sun made by humans, others envision a range of restrictions for particular fields of endeavor, from business methods and computer software to matters involving life, such as DNA and methods for screening or treating disease. Employing approaches that are both theoretically rigorous and grounded in the real world, this book is well suited for practicing lawyers, managers, lawmakers and analysts, as well as academics researching or teaching in law schools, business schools, public policy schools, and in economics and political science departments.

About the author

Michael B. Abramowicz is a professor at George Washington University Law School, Washington DC, where he specializes in law and economics, spanning areas including intellectual property, civil procedure, corporate law, administrative law, and insurance law. His research has been published in the California Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the Cornell Law Review, the Harvard Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, the New York University Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal. He has also published the book Predictocracy: Market Mechanisms for Public and Private Decision Making (2008).

James E. Daily is Postdoctoral Research Associate for, and Administrative Director of, the Hoover Project on Commercializing Innovation. An attorney licensed in Missouri and a patent agent registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, his research interests include open source models of innovation, the role of open source in the marketplace, and the interactions between open source and intellectual property. He is also the creator and coauthor of the blog 'Law and the Multiverse' and the co-author of the book The Law of Superheroes (with Ryan M. Davidson, 2012).