Here's a brief description (subject to change):
In June 2011, six unlikely allies—including Apple, Microsoft, and Research in Motion—bid $4.5 billion to buy thousands of wireless, networking, and other patents from bankrupt Nortel Networks. Will these patents free Apple’s engineers to devise dazzling 4G technologies, or will they become exhibits in lawsuits against competitors’ smartphones, such as Google’s Android? Will Google's August 2011 agreement to buy Motorola Mobility and its 17,000 patents for $12.5 billion level the IP playing field or simply lead to more litigation? More generally, do patents stimulate invention or stifle innovation?"
This course will reveal the benefits and costs of patents for inventors, innovators, investors, and consumers. Far from a dry treatment of legal doctrine, this course will engage students in a thought-provoking examination of issues concerning patents, their history, disputes, and proposals for reform. We will address several fundamental questions: How do patents affect commerce? Who benefits from current patent laws? What happens in patent litigation? Do the effects of patents differ across industries? Should we change our patent laws? Learning how the US patent system works will enhance your abilities to invent, innovate, and invest wisely.
The course code in the Stanford catalog will be BUS 111.
tags: stanford, class
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