Principles of Patent Law provides comprehensive coverage of the policies, laws, rules, and practices of the U.S. patent system in a format accessible to students, lawyers, government officials, and business people. The Seventh Edition builds on the strengths of prior editions in combining discussions of the law and theory of patents with instructive case materials.

The Seventh Edition features a number of significant changes designed to reflect the “new normal” with respect to various aspects of U.S. patent law, including (1) the revitalization of jurisprudence on subject-matter eligibility, (2) the ongoing transition to dominance of patentability provisions adopted by the America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA), and (3) the increased roles of administrative proceedings and administrative-law concerns in patent law practice. In response to such developments, we have reorganized the chapters on patentability essentially to follow the order of §§ 101 to 103 and 112 in the Patent Act. In the chapters on novelty and nonobviousness, we have generally placed the primary focus on the AIA formulations of these requirements, with pre-AIA law now tending to appear in a more secondary role. We have also introduced a new, separate chapter on “Procedures and Institutions” of patent law. We hope that the result is a spryer casebook that stays true to the vision of the First Edition.


Imprint: Foundation Press
Series: University Casebook Series
Publication Date: 02/28/2018

John M. Golden, University of Texas School of Law

F. S. Kieff, George Washington University Law School

Pauline Newman, George Mason University School of Law

Henry E. Smith, Harvard University Law School

CasebookPlus™

This title is available in our CasebookPlus format. CasebookPlus provides support beyond your classroom lectures and materials by offering additional digital resources to you and your students. Anchored by faculty-authored formative self-assessments keyed to our most popular casebooks, CasebookPlus allows students to test their understanding of core concepts as they are learning them in class – on their own, outside of the classroom, with no extra work on your part. CasebookPlus combines three important elements:

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Multiple-choice self-assessment questions, including:
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  • Black Letter Law questions (available in select subjects)
  • Subject area review questions for end of semester use
Essay and short answer questions with sample answers and expert commentary, in 1L and select upper-level subjects

Leading digital study aids, an outline starter, and audio lectures in select subjects

Students can still utilize CasebookPlus digital resources if they’ve purchased a used book or are renting their text by purchasing the Learning Library at westacademic.com.

With CasebookPlus, you can customize your students’ learning experience and monitor their performance. The quiz editor allows you to create your own custom quiz set, suppress specific quiz questions or quiz sets, and time-release quiz questions. Additionally, the flexible, customized reporting capability helps you evaluate your students’ understanding of the material and can also help your school demonstrate compliance with the new ABA Assessment and Learning Outcomes standards.

The Seventh Edition builds on the strengths of prior editions in combining discussions of the law and theory of patents with instructive case materials.

The Seventh Edition features a number of significant changes designed to reflect the “new normal” with respect to various aspects of U.S. patent law, including (1) the revitalization of jurisprudence on subject-matter eligibility, (2) the ongoing transition to dominance of patentability provisions adopted by the America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA), and (3) the increased roles of administrative proceedings and administrative-law concerns in patent law practice. In response to such developments, we have reorganized the chapters on patentability essentially to follow the order of §§ 101 to 103 and 112 in the Patent Act. In the chapters on novelty and nonobviousness, we have generally placed the primary focus on the AIA formulations of these requirements, with pre-AIA law now tending to appear in a more secondary role. We have also introduced a new, separate chapter on “Procedures and Institutions” of patent law. We hope that the result is a spryer casebook that stays true to the vision of the First Edition.

Learn more about this series.