This Nutshell provides a succinct description of the fundamentals of U.S. patent law. Ranging from the acquisition of patent rights to their enforcement, it contains an overview of relevant statutes, rules, and cases that collectively define this area of intellectual property law. Topics include claim construction, obviousness, anticipation, written description and enablement, infringement, remedies, and other notable doctrines. Patent law has evolved quickly in the past few years. This Nutshell captures those changes and relates them well to the overall fabric of intellectual property law. This reference is suitable for use by those with a beginner's knowledge of patent law, but it has sufficient depth to be instructive for every practitioner in this exciting and dynamic field.

This new edition captures all of the recent and rapidly emerging changes in case law and the America Invents Act, yet retains its student- and professor-friendly approach to the policies and rules of patent law. This version teaches the far-reaching legal tenets of patent law that are venerable and yet as current as the latest developments from the laboratory bench. Like its successful predecessors, this casebook draws on insights from other areas of U.S. law as well as from aspects of foreign systems. In particular this new edition features new chapters on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Standard Essential Patents, and prior art under the AIA.