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| 35 U.S.C. | |
|---|---|
| Title | 35 |
| Subject | Patents |
| Enacted | 1952 |
| Amended | America Invents Act (2011) |
| Jurisdiction | United States |
| Codification | United States Code |
35 U.S.C.
35 U.S.C. is the title of the United States Code that codifies federal statutes governing patent law in the United States. It sets substantive standards for patentability, prescribes procedures for examination and issuance by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and creates statutory rights, remedies, and post-grant mechanisms that interact with rulings from the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and other tribunals. The title has shaped innovation policy affecting inventors, corporations such as IBM, Microsoft, and Apple Inc., universities like Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and industries including pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer and Merck & Co..
35 U.S.C. organizes patent law into statutory provisions addressing definitions, patentability, application procedures, issuance, ownership, and enforcement, with key cross-influences from landmark decisions by the United States Supreme Court including Diamond v. Chakrabarty, KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., and Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International. The title interacts with administrative practice at the United States Patent and Trademark Office and appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and regional circuits such as the Second Circuit and Federal Circuit. It is referenced in international instruments and comparisons with regimes like the European Patent Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and laws in jurisdictions such as Japan and China.
The statutory roots trace to early statutes including the Patent Act of 1790, the Patent Act of 1836, and subsequent recodifications culminating in the Patent Act of 1952 which organized patent law into what became 35 U.S.C. Major later amendments include the Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) enacted in 2011 and earlier reforms tied to legislative responses following cases such as Graham v. John Deere Co. and policy debates around biotechnology after Diamond v. Chakrabarty. Congressional actions often resulted from stakeholder input from entities like the United States Chamber of Commerce, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and academic commentators at institutions such as Stanford University and Yale Law School.
35 U.S.C. is divided into parts, subparts, and chapters addressing definitions, patentability requirements, application and examination, patents and protection, ownership and assignments, remedies, and procedures for post-grant review. Major chapters include statutory sections on definitions influenced by parlance used in cases like Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., patentability doctrines traced to Graham v. John Deere Co., and claim construction principles applied in Phillips v. AWH Corp.. Administrative provisions connect to rules promulgated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Sections set forth novelty, nonobviousness, utility, and subject-matter eligibility standards, which have been interpreted in cases such as Graham v. John Deere Co., KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., Diamond v. Chakrabarty, and Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International. Examination procedures guide patent practitioners and applicants including corporations like Intel Corporation and Qualcomm and universities like Columbia University through filing, search, examination, and allowance processes at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Provisions on provisional applications and priority claims affect interactions with treaties like the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
35 U.S.C. defines the exclusive rights conferred by a patent, remedies for infringement, and defenses including willful infringement findings shaped by cases such as Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. and damages frameworks informed by decisions like eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. and Halo Electronics. Enforcement mechanisms include district court litigation in venues such as the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and procedures for injunctive relief, monetary damages, and attorney’s fees, with involvement from entities such as International Trade Commission in certain exclusion proceedings.
AIA amendments introduced inter partes review, post-grant review, and covered business method review, altering challenges to issued patents before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and affecting major firms like Google and Facebook. Reexamination provisions allow third-party attacks and administrative reconsideration; Supreme Court review in cases such as SAS Institute Inc. v. Iancu and Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee clarified application of these procedures. The AIA’s shift to a first-inventor-to-file regime changed priority rules previously shaped by decisions in circuits like the Federal Circuit.
35 U.S.C. has driven innovation incentives and disputes across sectors from biotechnology companies like Genentech to semiconductor firms like Texas Instruments and has spurred academic debate at Harvard Law School and policy analysis by organizations like the Brookings Institution. Critics point to concerns about patent quality, patent assertion entities exemplified by litigation involving Non-Practicing Entities, administrative burden at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and international competitiveness relative to regimes in European Union member states and Japan. Proposals for reform have been advanced by stakeholders including the American Bar Association, the United States Department of Commerce, and think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation.