Arti Rai – Patent Validity Across the Executive Branch: Ex Ante Foundations for Policy Development

What can the recent DNA patent controversies teach us about the role of executive agencies in shaping patent policy? In Professor Arti Rai’s essay: Patent Validity Across the Executive Branch: Ex Ante Foundations for Patent Development, Rai analyzes how systematic interagency debate can facilitate the development of beneficial patent policy ex ante. Professor Rai uses recent Supreme Court holdings to demonstrate that executive agencies like the International Trade Commission (ITC), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the Department of Justice can work in tandem with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO or Patent Office) to avoid some of the policy pitfalls created by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) and Congress.

Gregory Mandel – To Promote the Creative Process: Intellectual Property and the Psychology of Creativity

Does intellectual property law promote creativity? Professor Gregory N. Mandel (Peter J. Liacouras Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research, Temple University—Beasley School of Law) extensively explores the psychological effects of the patent and copyright systems and their impact on innovation in his article To Promote the Creative Process: Intellectual Property Law and the Psychology of Creativity, 86 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1999 (2011). In this article, Professor Mandel examines modern psychological research of various thought processes, motivation, and collaboration in an effort to reveal how intellectual property laws may affect the process of innovation.

Elizabeth Burleson & Winslow Burleson - Innovation Cooperation: Energy Biosciences and Law

Can the world avert catastrophic climate change through sustained legal cooperation resulting in environmentally efficient, sustainable technology? In Innovation Cooperation:Energy Biosciences and Law, Professors Elizabeth Burleson and Winslow Burleson discuss how different organizations must work together to overcome the imminent threats of climate change. The article delves into the international, legal, and societal barriers that prevent the diffusion of climate change technology while addressing the innovative steps that are being taken to overcome these obstacles.