This guide offers an overview of print and electronic materials available for conducting research on patent law at the Biddle Law Library.
Patents are a form of intellectual property ("IP"), which also encompasses copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, unfair competition, and publicity rights. A patent is a monopoly right in an invention. It entitles the holder to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing the invention for a limited time within the United States.
U.S. patents are governed by federal law, codified in the United States Code. Accompanying regulations can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations. Patents are issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which is an agency of the Department of Commerce. Patent disputes are litigated primarily in the federal court system. When appeal is taken on a patent issue, the case is heard by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Consult the following resources for general information or an overview on IP and patent law.
What Is a Patent, Fourth Edition by 
Principles of Patent Law by 
Patent Law in Nutshell by 
Understanding Patent Law by
The third edition of Understanding Patent Law provides important and comprehensive coverage for a foundational understanding of patent law, including summaries, overviews, and examples to illustrate the application of the most abstract and complex doctrines. This treatise includes clear and concise summaries of the major cases, with straightforward descriptions of the technology at issue. This edition has been revised to enhance the reader's understanding of all concepts covered in patent courses. Throughout, the book includes discussions of the background policy and historical underpinnings of the primary patent law doctrines to enable an understanding of the reasons that support the doctrine. The work is suitable for developing a working knowledge of the law, as well as for students enrolled in a patent law course. This edition has been fully updated and features: coverage of all major patent law topics with all recent U.S. Supreme Court and appellate court cases, including the requirements to obtain a U.S. patent right; post-grant procedures; claim construction methods and procedures; an in-depth treatment of patent infringement, defenses to an infringement suit, and international considerations; an overview of the legislative, regulatory, and court systems that govern the creation, issuance, and enforcement of the patent right; updated treatment that covers the groundbreaking cases issued since the last edition, including the patentable subject matter cases Alice v. CLS Bank, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., and Mayo Collaborative Services v. Biosig; discussion of the U.S. Supreme Court's Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark, which shifted the foundation of exhaustion from an intent-based doctrine into a fundamental limitation on the patent right; a new section on the impact of Gunn v. Minton and T.J. Heartland v. Kraft Foods on patent litigation. Additionally, the remedies chapter adds four new ground-breaking Supreme Court decisions, including Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc. on willfulness relief and Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple Inc. on monetary damages for design patent infringement. The Court's new standards for assessing the sufficiency of claims from Nautilus v. Biosig is reviewed, as well as the appellate review of the construction of claims in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc.; and a review of the Federal Circuit's Williamson v. Citrix Online, which has become critical to understanding claim construction.
Intellectual Property, Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright in a Nutshell by
Authors Michael Davis and famed Harvard professor Arthur Miller provide authoritative coverage on the foundations of patents, trademarks, and copyright laws. Authoritative treatment of all relevant doctrines and the latest statutory and judicial changes. Text further addresses relevant torts, property, antitrust, regulatory, and federalism intersections with intellectual property law.
