NAVIGATING THE SEA CHANGES IN PATENT LAW TO SUCCESSFULLY BUILD VALUE

Major changes in U.S. patent law are having an impact on the value of patents. The America Invents Act introduced numerous changes to U.S. patent law including the switch to a first to file patent system and new proceedings to challenge the grant of issued patents. Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have altered the patentability standards for biotech/pharma inventions, as well as computer/business method inventions. In Europe, the framework for an emerging unitary patent system is still in the implementation stages and will add complexity to strategic patent planning. This article, first published as the Editor’s Choice in Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.14-30 (2015), reviews these changes, discusses trends, and provides strategies to build a patent portfolio with valid and enforceable patent claims as a foundation to withstand patentability and validity challenges.