2012 at Written Description

2012 was a fun year at Written Description; there were fantastic posts by Sarah Tran and her RAs, Chris Suarez, and Tan Mau Wu while I finished clerking, and it was great to return to blogging in September. I've gotten to read papers such as Melissa Wasserman's argument that PTO patentability decisions deserve Chevron deference under the AIA, Mark Lemley's software patent solution, and Buccafusco & Heald's study of the impact of a novel's copyright status on audiobook recordings. We learned that Judge O'Malley writes the longest Federal Circuit opinions, and I also added a new page of Supreme Court patent cases (showing that every current Justice has authored at least one patent-related majority opinion), and a page of patent law references (including tips on searching legislative history). I am also excited about extending Mike Madison's list of classic patent scholarship with additions by TJ Chiang, Michael Risch, and Ted Sichelman (and more to come!).

But the best part of blogging is the emails I get from you, WD's readers—I love hearing from a patent examiner about why some academic argument doesn't ring true, or from a young scholar with a copy of her new article, or from an older professor about a post he enjoyed. Keep the comments coming, and best wishes to all of you for the new year!