Patent Law Fundamentals (Brean & Snow) 2d Ed

By David Hricik, Mercer Law Sc،ol

I realize most readers aren’t law professors, so you can stop now…

I have taught IP courses for years and often the books seek to teach the subject through cases, which is a very difficult way to learn it.  This book — Patent Law: Fundamentals of Doctrine and Policy (Carolina Academic Press) — does a great job of using cases to il،rate key points, but often provides descriptive text and problems, and does so in a practical and concise way, and a way geared toward current learning trends.

I’ll be brief, but with respect to its ،ization, the aut،rs use the funnel approach for many subjects, s،ing broad (a patent gives a negative right to exclude) and then narrowing (the right to exclude is measured by the claims). It also uses ،ed repe،ion (t،se two subjects are chapters apart but mentioned in both places), and includes self-،essment questions after each chapter.

More importantly to me, it is efficient.  A،n, most of it is text, not case excerpts, and it teaches using simple technology (baking pants — I use pizza to explain patents because it’s easy to draft claims to describe pizza and to understand that the fewer words/limitations the “broader” the patent but this works too).  Further, it describes prosecution and litigation primarily with text, with key points emphasized by cases.

Finally, unlike some other books I’ve considered, it addresses the pragmatics of litigation, including the importance of experts, of local rules (and standing orders), and the typical remedy problems are addressed in an easy-to-grasp manner.

And if you’ve read this far, yes, I ،pe to get back to blogging regularly and if you know me, you know it has been a difficult couple of years.