patent law

Inventing even the simplest product is a fraught process. Mike Davidson and Mike Smith have learned that lesson the hard way as they seek to change the way teeth get cleaned.

Some members of Congress say the U.S. government should use the patent rights it owns for any drugs that were developed with federal grants to drive down the prices of those drugs.

A gene-editing technology called CRISPR-cas9 could be a gold mine for its inventors, but it's not clear who owns the idea. U.S. patent judges will soon hear oral arguments to decide the issue.

An easier way to edit genes, called CRISPR-Cas9, is revolutionizing biomedical research. But as patents and big prizes hover, some contributors to the discovery aren't getting much credit.

Radio and print ads launched this week warn of damage wrought by so-called patent trolls. Business groups and software developers say patents are being used as legal weapons in a tactic that costs the economy tens of billions of dollars a year.