October 4, 2013 | 8:45-9:40 p.m. CT | University of Missouri School of Law
MBHB partner Kevin Noonan, Ph.D. is a featured co-speaker for a program entitled, “Disputes with an Industry Focus,” which takes place as part of the daylong Journal of Dispute Resolution symposium. This symposium is sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Law and the Journal of Dispute Resolution, the flagship journal of the University of Missouri’s Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution.
Patents now pervade the American business culture and marketplace. The number of issued patents continues to increase as does the intensity of enforcement. Most new products and services are covered by one or more patents — only some of which are owned by the manufacturer or service provider.
Patents have the potential of serving as tools for business transactions — a legal mechanism for capturing and transferring the value of innovation while allowing the resulting information to be spread widely. However, patent enforcement through litigation is incredibly expensive and time consuming. Litigation costs regularly exceed $10 million in contested cases and lasts for years.
This year’s Journal of Dispute Resolution symposium explores alternative mechanisms for resolving patent disputes and for proactively transforming would-be disputes into cooperative business arrangements. At the same time, patents may be different from other private-law concerns. The power of patents to block access to new ideas creates a strong public interest in results that encourage innovation without unjustly limiting access to those innovations.
View complete details at https://law.missouri.edu/csdr/symposium/2013/