The State of the Patent System: A Discussion with Chief Judge Rader - Podcast

Today, people read daily complaints about the “broken” patent system, and thus, it's unsurprising that there are numerous and wide-ranging attempts to "reform" the patent system.  Legislative reform efforts include the proposed SHIELD Act, which would impose a losing-plaintiff-pays litigation system solely on patent-licensing companies and further revisions to the America Invents Act of 2011.  Regulatory agencies also have skin in the patent reform game: the FTC recently reached settlements with Bosch and Google that restricted their rights to enforce their patents in standardized technology, and the FTC is currently considering whether to condemn the patent-licensing business model as “anti-competitive.”  The courts are heavily involved as well: in addition to the many patent cases it has decided in recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has four major patent cases on its docket this year, which suggests that it also agrees that the patent system is in serious need of legal reform.  Yet, patents today secure innovation once imagined only as science fiction – tablet computers, smart phones, genetically modified seeds, genetic testing for cancer, personalized medical treatments for debilitating diseases, and many others – and these technological marvels are now a commonplace feature of our lives.  This Teleforum with the Honorable Randall Rader, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit – a digital “fireside chat” – explored these and other issues in assessing whether the patent system is broken or whether it is fundamentally sound.

Featuring:

• Hon. Randall R. Rader, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
• Moderator: Prof. Adam Mossoff, Co-Director, Academic Programs and Senior Scholar, Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property, George Mason Law School
• Introduction: Mr. Dean Reuter, Vice President and Practice Groups Director, The Federalist Society

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