Book Docket: Looking for Law School Book Lists

6 thoughts on “Book Docket: Looking for Law School Book Lists”

1. 6

   Bharath Paper Conversion – manufacturers and exporters of paper cone, paper tube, paper core, edge protectors, composite cans, fiber drums and packaging products.
2. 5

   Janice Mueller’s Intro to Patent Law is excellant.
3. 4

   Seconding what Paul Cole just wrote, this little book is well nigh indispensible for any student who wants to grasp why patent lawyers in the USA, and patent lawyers elsewhere in the world, do things (like patent drafting) different. In the past, that would not have been of much interest to students inside the USA. But nowadays, many patents written by US patent lawyers need to be effective outside the USA too. Yesterday’s perfect book list isn’t perfect for tomorrow’s students. Just because the book is so cheap does not mean it’s of little value. It’s priced for students.
4. 3

   If you are teaching patents, you could do worse than include “Fundamentals of Patent Drafting” ISBN 0 903932 23 7 which is available from the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys in the UK and which aims to introduce concepts from UK national law, EPO case law and US case law which are important to the drafting of patent specifications which have a chance of being successfully prosecuted and of surviving litigation, or nowadays also due diligence investigation, in the main countries where we practice. If you look at the footnotes there are numerous cases marked “required reading” which not only identify where the case in question is to be found but also identify by number the patent under consideration in that case. In order to understand a decision fully it is often essential to read not only what the court has said but also the wording of the original patent. The “required reading” cases were highlighted from a UK/EPO standpoint and although a large number of US decisions are highlighted, as a US practitioner I expect you would wish to add a number of additional US cases that have been listed but not highlighted. If your students read all the “required reading” cases plus the additional ones that you highlight, then they would acquire a good understanding of the advice that the judges and EPO Appeal boards have given us about what makes a good patent specification.

   Ideally a textbook should only be a guide to the case law, since the only way in which students can get real knowledge is by reading the original case law. That is why a core of “must read” cases has been identified.

   It is worth mentioning that the Chartered Institute charges £10 (about US $20) per copy plus packaging at student rate, which is inexpensive for a textbook in a specialized legal area. In the past, students at law courses at US universities have been able to benefit from the student rate (qualified practitioners pay £25 (about US $50 which is still not expensive). All profits from the book go to the Chartered Institute.
5. 2

   as a follow up to the above, do the lists have to be accurate? thanks in advance
6. 1

   I’m gonna assume that you mean something like “I’ll pay $30 for each list of books for this upcoming term in the following format to the first person to provide such a list,” where your total payout will not exceed $60. Otherwise, you might go broke paying $30 to everyone who supplies such a list and for the wise guy who provides you thousands of copies of the same list. Doesn’t this remind you of one of the first contract cases we read in law school? I can’t think of the name of it, but some guy got screwed by placing such an ad in a local newspaper.

Comments are closed.