Saurabh Vishnubhakat on Patent Office Policymaking

In this episode, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Associate Professor of Law at the Texas A&M University School of Law and Dwight Look College of Engineering, discusses his article "Disguised Patent Policymaking." Vishnubhakat begins by describing the history and structure of the Patent Office, focusing on its adjudicatory role. Among other things, he discusses the origins and function of ex parte and inter partes review of issued patents. He then explains how the Patent Office has used adjudication to engage in de facto rulemaking. He argues that in the interest of transparency and predictability, the Patent Office should promulgate rules directly, rather than entrench them through panel packing and assertions of unreviewability. Vishnubhakat is on Twitter at @emptydoors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.