Patents and the stimulation of innovation

The recent report of the Presidential Commission that studied the U. S. patent laws is criticized and it is urged that the U. S. technological community, rather than lawyers, assume a role of leadership in determining what is needed to stimulate invention and protect industrial property. Three questions have to be considered: how to determine whether an idea is in fact new, who should determine the validity of a contested patent, and whether different types of patents should be granted for different levels of invention. The informal application and “first-to-file” procedures, proposed by the Presidential Commission, are also criticized and a novel Patent Office examination procedure is presented for consideration.