Jacob S. Sherkow
The Antibody Patent Paradox
Shifts in patent law’s enablement and written description requirements make it impractical for patentees of antibody technologies to disclose and claim their inventions. We describe this as a doctrinal paradox and offer a solution that gives patentees the power to claim antibodies without giving them unlimited control over a market.
And How: Mayo v. Prometheus and the Method of Invention
**This Essay is part of a Yale Law Journal Online series called "Summary Judgment," featuring short commentaries on recent Supreme Court cases.** The Mayo Court’s novel test for patent eligibility—whether or not an invention involves “well-understood, routine, conventional activity, previously engaged in by researchers in the field”—focuses on how an invention is accomplished rather than what an invention is. That...