Takings, Judicial Takings, and Patent Law*

Bunch, J. Nicholas, Texas Law Review

Writing for a unanimous Court in Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., Justice Anthony Kennedy recognized that patent laws strike a "delicate" balance "between inventors, who rely on the promise of the law to bring the invention forth, and the public, which should be encouraged to pursue innovations, creations, and new ideas beyond the inventor's exclusive rights."1 At a very high level, Congress, acting through its Article I power, effectuates that balance by placing requirements of usefulness, innovation, nonobviousness, and disclosure upon inventors and rewarding those who meet the statutory requirements with a right of exclusion over their inventions for a limited time. …

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Publication information: Article title: Takings, Judicial Takings, and Patent Law*. Contributors: Bunch, J. Nicholas - Author. Journal title: Texas Law Review. Volume: 83. Issue: 6 Publication date: May 2005. Page number: 1747+. © University of Texas, Austin, School of Law Publications, Inc. Dec 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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