Patent Law
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Federal Statutes
- United States Code (U.S.C.)
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Official Code of federal laws, organized by subject matter. Revised every six years and updated between revisions with annual cumulative supplements. (Title 35 - Patents.) - United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.)
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West's unofficial version of the United States Code. More current than the official version and includes many research features. (Title 35 - Patents.) - United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.)
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Lexis's unofficial version of the United States Code. More current than the official version and includes many research features. (Title 35 - Patents.)
Case Law, Administrative Decisions, & Dockets
Topical Reporters and Databases:
- Annotated Patent Digest (Matthews)
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"Annotated Patent Digest contains summaries of all relevant patent law decisions in the U.S. along with expert commentary. This work is organized by topic and provides case summaries for U.S. Federal patent cases from 1998 going forward, as well as selected older cases from all levels of U.S. Federal courts." - United States Patents Quarterly (U.S.P.Q.2d)
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Provides the full-text of case law concerning patents, including decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, United States District Courts, and the United States Court of Federal Claims, which has jurisdiction over patent infringement claims against the United States. - Lexis: Patent Law Cases
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- Westlaw: Federal Patent Cases
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Federal Case Law Reporters:
- United States Reports (U.S.)
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Contains the final, official opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States. - West's Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.)
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Contains the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, along with headnotes, Key Numbers, and synopses. Unofficial reporter, but current. - United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition (L. Ed., L. Ed. 2d)
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Contains the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, along with summaries, headnotes, and research references. Unofficial reporter, but current. - Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d)
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Contains decisions from the United States Courts of Appeals, including those from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has nationwide jurisdiction over appeals from the District Courts in patent infringement litigation. - Federal Supplement (F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d, F. Supp. 3d)
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Contains opinions of the United States District Courts, in which patent infringement actions are litigated.
Administrative Decisions:
- Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)
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PTAB "conducts trials, including inter partes, post-grant, and covered business method patent reviews and derivation proceedings, hears appeals from adverse examiner decisions in patent applications and reexamination proceedings, and renders decisions in interferences." Site includes PTAB Decisions, including precedential and informative decisions. - Lexis: USPTO Patent Decisions
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Patent Office Board of Appeals (1928-1937); Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (1937-2012); Patent Trial and Appeal Board (2012 through current). - Westlaw: Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Decisions
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Administrative decisions released by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that have been prepared by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), formerly known as the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI). Coverage begins with March 1929. - United States Patents Quarterly (U.S.P.Q.2d)
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The U.S.P.Q. contains the full-text of IP decisions from federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (formerly called the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences).
Patent Dockets:
- Bloomberg Law: Dockets
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Full coverage of federal court dockets, including patent trials and appeals. Also includes the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). - Docket Navigator: Patent Dockets
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Covers patent litigation in the U.S. district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and America Invents Act proceedings in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. (Docket Navigator also covers copyright, trademark, and antitrust cases.) For a free academic account, send an email to contact@docketnavigator.com and provide your first and last name, GW Law email address, and, for students, anticipated date of graduation (month/year); for faculty and deans, your title. Scope of Patent Data Available in Docket Navigator: https://search.docketnavigator.com/help/scope.html - Lex Machina: Legal Analytics for Patent Litigation
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Founded by Stanford Law School Professor Mark Lemley, Lex Machina includes IP litigation data and analytics. Lex Machina provides free access to "certain university and college faculty staff and students, directly engaged in research, or study of law and policy." Users must view a brief online training demo in order to obtain or renew a user account.
Federal Regulations
- Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.)
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Codification of final rules published in the Federal Register. Title 37 (Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights) includes codified United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce, regulations. - eCFR (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
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Currently updated unofficial version of the C.F.R. Title 37 (Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights) includes codified United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce, regulations. - Federal Register (Fed. Reg.)
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Official publication of federal agency rulemaking, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office. - USPTO: Laws, regulations, policies, procedures, guidance and training
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Includes link to "Patent Rules, Consolidated [PDF]."
Proposed Legislation & Legislative History
Proposed Legislation:
- Bloomberg Law's Patents & Trade Secrets Practice Center
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Includes "IP Legislative Tracker" and "Pending Patent Legislation" pages. - Congress.gov
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Official site for U.S. federal legislative information. - United States Patent and Trademark Office: Governmental Affairs
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"Find USPTO congressional testimony, pending intellectual property legislation, and agency reports."
Legislative History:
- HeinOnline: Intellectual Property Legislative Histories
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Includes compiled legislative histories of patent legislation, including "Patent Reform: A Legislative History of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act" (Public Law No. 112-29). - ProQuest Legislative Insight
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Compiled legislative histories of federal statutes, including the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (Public Law No. 112-29). - ProQuest Congressional
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Massive archive of Congressional documents, including reports and hearings.