Form and Function in the Law of Utility: A Reply to Gold & Shortt

Canadian Intellectual Property Review, Forthcoming

60 Pages Posted: 28 Sep 2014 Last revised: 15 Nov 2017

See all articles by Norman Siebrasse

Norman Siebrasse

University of New Brunswick - Fredericton - Faculty of Law

Date Written: September 26, 2014

Abstract

The “promise of the patent” is a controversial branch of the Canadian law of utility, under which a patentee who “promises” a specific result may be held to a higher standard for utility than is required by the Patent Act. In a recent article, “The Promise of the Patent in Canada And Around the World,” Richard Gold and Michael Shortt argue that the promise doctrine is justifiable as a matter of policy, that it is long established in Canadian law, and that functionally equivalent promises are similarly enforced in a number of other jurisdictions. In this article I provide a functional comparison of the promise doctrine and the traditional “scintilla” branch of the utility requirement, which shows that Gold & Shortt’s analysis erroneously conflates these doctrines. I also show that on a functional analysis, the promise doctrine is not required to police selection patents, as that function is served by the inventive step requirement, and I explore the functional distinction between the promise doctrine and the requirement of sufficient disclosure.

Suggested Citation

Siebrasse, Norman, Form and Function in the Law of Utility: A Reply to Gold & Shortt (September 26, 2014). Canadian Intellectual Property Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2502024 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2502024

Norman Siebrasse (Contact Author)

University of New Brunswick - Fredericton - Faculty of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 4400
Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3
Canada
506-453-4725 (Phone)
506-453-4548 (Fax)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
227
Abstract Views
1,853
Rank
244,403
PlumX Metrics