Can the Courts Rescue Us from the Patent Crisis?

Professor Baker reviews The Patent Crisis and How the Courts Can Solve It, by Dan Burke and Mark Lemley.

Professor Baker examines Burke and Lemley’s proposal that the courts, and not Congress, are best suited to resolve the patent crisis by adopting a more sensible approach to innovation policy.  To implement this proposal in an industry-specific manner (as the authors suggest), the Federal Circuit must identify the problems of a given industry and then come up with a doctrine to solve the identified problems.  Professor Baker discusses the potential pitfalls of this proposal and examines the likely effects on patent law if the proposal is ultimately implemented.