The future of patents: Bilski and beyond: introduction.

• Author: Karshtedt, Dmitry
• Position: SYMPOSIUM

The 2011 Stanford Law Review Symposium, "The Future of Patents: Bilski and Beyond," explores the impact of the recent Supreme Court case Bilski v. Kappos (1) on technological innovation and the patent system. The articles presented in this Issue address the growth of engineering approaches to business and finance and concomitant patenting of inventions in those areas, (2) the historical and technological underpinnings of the patentable subject matter requirement, (3) the relationship between patent eligibility and the scope of the claims to which the patentee is entitled, (4) the effect of patents on follow-on research in the field of genetic diagnostics, (5) and the patentability of materials that come from human sources. (6)

The live Symposium at Stanford Law School on January 28-29, 2011, cosponsored by the Stanford Center for Law, Science, and Technology, further developed these themes. The event brought together the authors published in this Issue as well as Morgan Chu of Irell & Manella, David Jones of Microsoft, Gary Loeb of Genentech, Vern Norviel of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Marc Pernick of Morrison & Foerster, Jason Schultz of the University of California, Berkeley, and Steven Weiner of SRI International.

Dr. Roberta Morris of Stanford Law School, Professor Michael Risch of Villanova University School of Law, and Dr. Stefania Fusco of Santa Clara Law School moderated the Symposium panels. The mix of academic and practitioner perspectives provided for exciting, wide-ranging debates. The event culminated with a Keynote Address given by the Honorable James Ware, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. (7)

The Symposium's success would not have been possible without the work of many Stanford Law Review members, particularly the members of the Symposium Committee: Jon Abel, Zack Carpenter, Anyu Fang, Jen Gibson, Justin Goodwin, Cheryl Joseph, Matt Kellogg, Allie Pedrazzi, and Libbey Van Pelt. I would like...