Patent Law Research Guide

The Law of Patents covers topics such as:

• The requirements for filing a patent application and when a patent application should be granted
• What constitutes infringement of a patent
• Procedure and stages of patent infringment lawsuits.  Patent infringement lawsuits often have multiple stages: definition of terms ("Markman Hearings"), determining validity and infringement, and damages phases.
• Filing a reexamination action with the Patent Office, for example, as a defense to a patent infringement claim, to show the patent should not have been granted. Or, filing other post-grant proceedings with the Patent and Trademark Appeal Board, such as Inter Partes Review or Post-Grant Review. (see Chart Summarizing Different Post Grant Proceedings)
• Derivation proceedings -  An inventor who filed a patent application claims that an earlier application filed by someone else was derived from his invention without authorization.   For patent applications filed after March 15, 2013.  For patent applications filed on or before March 15, 2013, a similar, but broader procedure was available called an Interference action.  Derivation and interferences are heard by the USPTO Patent and Appeal Board.
• Procedures for reissuing a patent

The following Primary Sources are available on commercial databases, such as Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg, as well as on the Internet for free.  For most of them, only the link to the source on the free Internet is provided below.  Commercial sources may have broader coverage than what is on the web.

For a free database with many primary and secondary sources, see the IP Mall.

U.S. Const. Art. I § 8, cl. 8 grants Congress the power to laws for the granting of patents.  Sometimes the case notes in an annotated copy of the U.S. Constitution may come in handy in researching patent issues.  An annotated copy of the Constitution is on Lexis and Westlaw.

• Patent laws are contained in Title 35 of the United States Code.
• Current patent law is based on the Patent Act of 1952, 66 Stat. 792 plus amending legislation
• A major revision to patent laws was enacted by Leahy Smith America Invents Act (2011). 

Besides the usual legislative history sources, here is a source for compiled legislative histories for patent legislation:

Search case databases and dockets for court cases involving patents.   Note that Patent Trial and Appeal Board administrative decisions can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has exclusive jurisdiction to hear nearly all appeals of PTAB decisions.  Here are some databases that specifically contain patent cases, (but you could search any database containing cases, such as Google Scholar):

The Official Gazette for Patents (OG) is the official journal of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), published weekly on Tuesday. The Notices contain important information and changes in rules concerning patents. The Reexamination Certificates are issued and published upon completion of a PTO reexamination proceeding and reflect cancellation of any claim of the patent finally determined to be patentable and/or confirm any claim of the patent determined to be patentable, and incorporate in the patent any amended or new claim determined to be patentable.

Also Includes:

• patents granted  - a representative drawing from each patent issued that week.
• Notices re. expiration of patents for failure to pay fees, when fees due, reissue applications filed, requests for ex parte reexamination, reinstated patents upon payment of late free.