Technically Speaking, Does It Matter? an Empirical Study Linking the Federal Circuit Judges' Technical Backgrounds to How They Analyze the Section 112 Enablement and Written Description Requirements

At the heart of the patent system is a relatively simple quid pro quo transaction; in exchange for disclosing his or her invention to the public, an inventor is given the right to exclude others from using it. 1 This property right, known as a patent, can be tremendously valuable. For example, in July 2011, a consortium of companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Sony paid $4.5 billion for Nortel's portfolio of 6,000 patents. 2 In response, Google paid $12.5 billion in August 2011 to acquire Motorola Mobility 3 and its extensive patent portfolio of more than 17,000 patents. 4 With so much money at stake, “patent lawyers, inventors, and technology corporations . . . must be able to base their research and development, and their patent decisions, on well-established rules.” 5