Patently Outdate: Patents In The Post-Industrial Economy: The Case For Service Patents

Synopsis

An economy of services largely dominates our world today, but no patent systemis available to support it. All signs point increasingly to evidence that inalmost all countries-and as enshrined in the TRIPS Agreement-patent rules andprocedures are seriously handicapped in their incapacity to respond to currenteconomic reality.Many inventions today are made without any materiality, yet they arenonetheless genuine inventions, such as those that arise from the banking,insurance and business consulting industries. Today’s patent system remainsdeeply linked to the making of things with human hands. It must evolve andadapt so that the new economy can also benefit from its advantages.This book is about that adaptation-which will come, or, rather, as the authorshows, has slowly started to come. By describing details and historical eventsthat shed light on how patent law has evolved from the pre-industrial to theindustrial economy, the book manifests the need for a further evolution ofpatents to the post-industrial economy.Its main point is that society should allow patent law to evolve into anaturally subsequent stage: Service patents. In support of this contention,the author provides in-depth analysis of the characteristics that servicepatents should present, including formal and substantive requirements, scopeof rights, and terms of protection.As both a birds’ eye view of the current status of the industrial patentsystem and its functions (particularly in a context of globalized trade ofgoods), and as a clear call for innovation in patent law in conformity withthe structures of the post-industrial economy, this is a truly seminal work.It is sure to be welcomed by all professionals interested in patent law in thebusiness, legal, academic, and policymaking communities.