Getting patents right has a $3 trillion impact on the US economy
Hawkyard, Philip. 2022 J.D. Candidate 2023, UCC Law University of California College of the Law, San Francisco; Senior Production Editor, Hastings Law Journal "The Collapse of Alice's Wonderland: Mayo's Faulty Two-Step Framework and a Possible Solution to Patent-Eligibility Jurisprudence." Hastings LJ 74 (2022): 1221. , https://repository.uclawsf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4033&context=hastings_law_journal (ermo/sms, Acc:7-5-2024) [MSDI-JE-wk1]
Though these questions may seem silly and nonsensical, their answers have taken on new importance. These questions are part of a larger inquiry as to what inventions should be considered patent eligible. Because United States patents are worth $3 trillion, determining what is eligible for a patent has a major effect on the United States economy.5 However, patent eligibility is mired in a state of uncertainty, as this Note will explore in detail. Many of those who follow patent jurisprudence closely hoped that the Supreme Court would resolve the lingering uncertainty by ruling on American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, 6 but the Court denied certiorari in June 2022,7 thus ending the Court’s entrance into the patent-eligibility waters for the foreseeable future.8