One of the enumerated powers granted to Congress by the U.S. Constitution is “[t]o promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8. A more straightforward read of this clause is that Congress has the power to confer, for limited times, exclusive rights to inventors for their discoveries and authors for their writings. Accordingly, Congress enacts legislation governing patents for inventors and copyrights for authors—thus, patent law and copyright law. This column focuses on patent law, which is codified in Title 35 of the U.S. Code (“35 U.S.C. ”).
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