This significantly updated second edition of the Research Handbook on Patent Law and Theory provides comprehensive coverage of new research for patent protection in three major jurisdictions: the United States, Europe and Japan.

Leading patent scholars and practitioners provide an innovative comparative analysis of fundamental issues such as patentability, examination procedure and the scope of patent protection, with current issues such as patent protection for industry standards, computer software and business methods. Updates to this second edition reflect on the dramatic changes that have taken place in the US Patent System since the first edition, including the American Invents Act that has introduced the first-inventor-to-file policy and post-issuance proceedings to challenge validity. Current topics such as the Unified Patent Court, patent litigation updates reform in the US, design patents and patent inventions in medical science are also addressed.

Providing a strong scholarly foundation, as well as useful tips for practitioners to protect their intellectual assets in technologies effectively in the global market, this Research Handbook will be of great interest to legal scholars and students, as well as lawyers and patent attorneys.

Contributors include: J.N. Adams, C. Appelt, R.C. Dreyfuss, H. Goddar, H.P. Göetting, O. Granstrand, S. Hetmank, C.M. Ho, C.M. Holman, C. Karl, J.B. Krauss, A.L. Landers, S. Luginbuehl, T. Miyamoto, T. Müller-Stoy, X.T. Nguyen, S. Ono, C. Rademacher, G. Reilly, S. Schohe, D. Stauder, T. Takenaka, J. Thomas