Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Lisa L. Ouellette

@patentscholar.bsky.social

6.8K followers 170 following 66 posts

Prof at @StanfordLaw.bsky.social, Senior Fellow at @SIEPR.bsky.social, physics PhD. Researching IP & innovation. Coauthor of free patent casebook: patentcasebook.org

Videos

Economics 40%

Business 31%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Julian Webb, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Matthew Sag @matthewsag.bsky.social · 6d

Harvey.AI is courting law schools like Westlaw/Lexis once did, but do we really need it? After a demo, my verdict: it's ChatGPT in a black turtleneck. Good for firms needing secure doc review & RAG, but law students can already do most of this with existing tools. matthewsag.com/do-law-schoo...

Do law schools need Harvey.AI? – Matthew Sag

matthewsag.com

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · 10d

New Patently-O post with Jonathan Masur on why the Federal Circuit should explicitly clarify that private sales—ones that don't lead to public use or other prior art—are prior art against the seller but not third parties: patentlyo.com/patent/2025/...

Guest Post by Profs. Masur & Larrimore Ouellette: Private Third-Party Sales as Prior Art

Guest post by Professors Jonathan S. Masur (UChicago Law) and Lisa Larrimore Ouellette (Stanford Law). In our 2024 Stanford Law Review article, “Real-World Prior …

patentlyo.com

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · 11d

Press on Jonathan Masur's and my amicus brief from @law360.bsky.social & @bloomberglaw.com www.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberglaw...

Law360 @law360.bsky.social · 11d

The Federal Circuit should revive an insulation product maker's patent infringement lawsuit against a competitor, according to a pair of legal scholars who say third-party sales of a product by themselves can't block inventors from patenting their creations. www.law360.com/artic...

Reposted by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Law360 @law360.bsky.social · 11d

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · 12d

For the longer version of these arguments, see our 2024 @stanlrev.bsky.social article "Real-World Prior Art": www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/articl...

Real-World Prior Art | Stanford Law Review

www.stanfordlawreview.org

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · 12d

We also explain why this rule aligns the on-sale bar with its purpose, why it is consistent with longstanding treatment of secret commercial use as party-specific, and why it incentivizes public disclosures. We hope the Fed. Cir. takes this opportunity to clarify this important area of doctrine!

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · 12d

A simple example: Suppose A makes a private sale, then B files for a patent, then A files for a patent. If the on-sale bar were NOT party-specific, NEITHER inventor gets a patent: A's sale would bar B but wouldn't protect A under 102(b)(1)(B) (b/c not a public disclosure), so B's filing would bar A.

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · 12d

Thank you @prmalone.bsky.social, Nina Srejovic & fantastic @law.stanford.edu Juelsgaard Clinic students Jina Zhou and Yiran (Isabella) Yang for filing this amicus brief on Jonathan Masur's & my behalf, explaining why a private third-party sale isn't prior art against an unrelated inventor:

#25 in Cellulose Material Solutions, LLC v. SC Marketing Group, Inc. (Fed. Cir., 25-2000) – CourtListener.com

MODIFIED ENTRY: AMICUS BRIEF FILED by Jonathan Masur and Lisa L. Ouellette, Esq.. Service: 10/28/2025 by email. [1124194]--[Edited 10/29/2025 by GWK - Reason: compliance review complete] [Phillip Malo...

storage.courtlistener.com

Reposted by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

UChicago Law Review @uchilrev.bsky.social · 12d

Jonathan Masur and @patentscholar.bsky.social unravel patent law’s “disclosure puzzles”—the doctrines that demand inventors reveal enough to teach the public while still preserving the value of their inventions.

Reposted by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 17d

My paper with @patentscholar.bsky.social on how AI increases plagiarism risk in student and academic writing, what law should do about it (nothing), and what schools should do about it (quite a bit) is now published in the University of Chicago Law Review
lawreview.uchicago.edu/online-archi...

Plagiarism, Copyright, and AI | The University of Chicago Law Review

Critics of generative AI often describe it as a “plagiarism machine.” They may be right, though not in the sense they mean. With rare exceptions, generative AI doesn’t just copy someone else’s creativ...

lawreview.uchicago.edu

Reposted by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Rachel Sachs @rachelsachs.bsky.social · 24d

FDA has updated their CBER/CDER net hiring data for FY 2025. Although both Centers grew in FY2023 and FY2024, in FY2025 they've lost ~16-18% (respectively) of staff, over a thousand people at CDER alone. www.fda.gov/industry/fda...

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

STAT @statnews.com · 28d

Employees inside the FDA and outside experts said they were worried the U.S. is headed toward a new era of drug regulation: one where political decisions lead, and evidence follows
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/f...

Inside FDA, career staffers describe how political pressure is influencing their work

Current and former FDA staff said the level of involvement of political officials in nitty-gritty regulatory matters is unprecedented.

www.statnews.com

Reposted by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Sarah Fackrell @design-law.bsky.social · 29d

Excellent question. I reached out the the Office to ask about file wrapper access and they sent me here: data.uspto.gov/patent-file-...

It's much less user-friendly than Patent Center was and the UI is *terrible*, so it's not a great replacement.

The Open Data Portal (ODP) is USPTO's data platform that empowers you to discover and easily extract USPTO data in one place for free.

data.uspto.gov

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · 29d

Also, these are not the only types of users who might want to access Patent Center! Understanding a patent's prosecution history is relevant for businesses, academics, lawyers who aren't registered with the USPTO, etc.

Self-enrollment form for Patent Center states "Please provide the following information in order to complete the self-enrollment process for secure access to the Patent Center" and gives only 2 options: "Registered patent practitioner" or "Independent Inventor"

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · 29d

Is there any legitimate reason that limiting Patent Center access to verified users helps “fraud protection”? This is a problem for those of us who want to teach our students how to read a patent’s prosecution history. What is the fraud risk in reading patent data? www.uspto.gov/about-us/new...

USPTO implementing additional security measures for Patent Center

Effective September 11, 2025, identity verification will be required for all Patent Center users; guest and unregistered users will no longer be able to access Patent Center.

www.uspto.gov

Reposted by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · Oct 11

I submitted written testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act

drive.google.com/file/d/1SlL9...

Comments on the Patent Eligibility Reform Act.pdf

drive.google.com

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · Oct 9

Thanks to David Zimmer for work on Jonathan Masur’s & my amicus brief in support of cert in MSN v. Novartis, drawing on our “Disclosure Puzzles in Patent Law” article to explain why the Fed Cir’s approach to disclosure for after-arising technologies is incoherent www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

Disclosure Puzzles in Patent Law | The University of Chicago Law Review

Since its inception, patent law has required that inventors publicly disclose information about their inventions in exchange for receiving patent rights. This foundational requirement is policed throu...

lawreview.uchicago.edu

Reposted by Brian A. Nosek, Simon J. Greenhill, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette , and 2 more Brian A. Nosek, Simon J. Greenhill, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, Paul Nightingale, Jürgen Janger

Matt Clancy @mattsclancy.bsky.social · Sep 25

New research by Pierre Azoulay, Danielle Li, Bhaven Sampat and me.

Earlier this year, the President’s budget proposed a 40% cut to the budget of the NIH. This motivated us to ask: what if the NIH had been 40% smaller?

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Bruce D. Baker, John Mullahy , and 5 more Brendan Nyhan, Bruce D. Baker, John Mullahy, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, Lisa Diedrich, Henry Jones, Aviel Roshwald, David Darmofal

Holly Fernandez Lynch @hollylynchez.bsky.social · Sep 23

This is bonkers. FDA is going to change leucovorin's label based on a lit review with data on 40 patients w/ cerebral folate deficiency and comparisons to "known natural history."

www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/f...

FDA brings back GSK's leucovorin drug that RFK Jr. touted as autism treatment

The Trump administration is touting leucovorin as a treatment for autism.

www.statnews.com

Reposted by Jonathan H. Adler, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet , and 1 more Jonathan H. Adler, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · Sep 19

In this post I explain why the suspension of Kimmel’s show looks like a blatant 1A violation, as all NINE members of SCOTUS last year made clear.... but also why courts may not be able to do much about it (and yet Kimmel should still sue!) blog.dividedargument.com/p/did-brenda...

Did Brendan Carr Violate the First Amendment? And Can Anything Be Done?

the constitutional law of jawboning

blog.dividedargument.com

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · Sep 19

Looking forward to delivering the academic spotlight at the @law.stanford.edu Silicon Valley IP Forum on Oct. 3. Free registration here: conferences.law.stanford.edu/siliconvalle...

Home - Silicon Valley IP Forum 2025

Silicon Valley IP Forum aims to foster discussion and collaboration among IP professionals in the Silicon Valley area (and beyond). The conference will feature insightful discussions among judges, la...

conferences.law.stanford.edu

Reposted by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Michael Madison @michaelmadison.bsky.social · Sep 17

Heard. See @patentscholar.bsky.social 's "Classic Patent Scholarship" project, writtendescription.blogspot.com/p/classic-sc..., which builds on my "Lost Classics of Intellectual Property Law," available on SSRN. Newton, Hooke, OTSOG, and all that.

Classic Patent Scholarship

Lisa Larrimore Ouellette's Patent & IP Blog, Reviewing Recent Scholarship on Patent Law, IP Theory, and Innovation

writtendescription.blogspot.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio , and 12 more Marc Lynch, Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, Brendan Nyhan, Joshua S. Weitz, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers, Rosemary A. Joyce, Trade, Michael D. Green, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, Scott A. Imberman, Brian Keegan, Greg Linden, Daxton R. Stewart

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · Aug 21

TL;DR: 5 justices say Trump doesn't have to immediately restore the funding, but 5 *also* signal that the underlying directives are unlawful.

That sends a fairly strong (if mixed) message that Trump will lose these cases *eventually,* but only once they're brought in the Court of Federal Claims.

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · Aug 21

Splitting 5-4 (with Chief Justice Roberts joining the three Democratic appointees in dissent), #SCOTUS grants *partial* stay to Trump administration in NIH funding case; holds that challenges to grant terminations (but *not* the underlying guidance) need to be filed in the Court of Federal Claims:

www.supremecourt.gov

Reposted by Pamela Samuelson, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · Aug 21

JUST IN: 9th Circuit panel refuses Trump administration bid to lift order requiring it to reinstate University of California grants canceled under Trump DEI orders. 3-0. Judges Paez (Clinton), Christen (Obama), Desai (Biden). Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

UCResearcherStayCA9082125

www.documentcloud.org

Reposted by Mark A. Lemley

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · Aug 20

New article with @marklemley.bsky.social on how genAI facilitates academic plagiarism, why this shouldn't become a copyright/legal problem, and what universities should do about it (forthcoming in U Chi L Rev Online): papers.ssrn.com/abstract=539...

The figure shows a Venn diagram with three overlapping circles labeled “Copyright Infringement,” “Plagiarism,” and “Bad Scholarly Practices.” It maps common behaviors to the regions where these circles intersect: copying expression without attribution (in all three); copying ideas or facts without attribution (plagiarism + bad scholarly practice); copying expression with attribution but beyond what’s needed for a research purpose (copyright infringement + bad scholarly practice); copying ideas or facts with attribution to unreliable sources (bad scholarly practice only); and copying expression with attribution for a research purpose (copyright infringement only, but will generally be fair use).

Reposted by Jennifer M. Urban

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · Aug 10

The @statnews.com story suggests they are thinking of march-in rights, but that would only allow them to grant additional licenses after determining that certain statutory criteria are met, which Harvard could appeal to the Court of Federal Claims (see 35 USC 203) www.statnews.com/2025/08/08/h...

Trump administration launches investigation into Harvard’s federally funded research patents

The Trump administration escalates its fight with Harvard, beginning the "march-in" process involving patent ownership.

www.statnews.com

Reposted by Daniel Aaron, Maya Sen, Robert C. Richards , and 2 more Daniel Aaron, Maya Sen, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Jennifer M. Urban

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · Aug 10

This threat to "take over" Harvard's patents is bewildering—seems like yet another example of using a tenuous legal threat to retaliate against universities for not complying with unrelated demands. I'm quoted in this WSJ story (gift link):

Trump Administration Threatens to Take Over Harvard’s Patents

The move is the latest escalation in the White House’s battle with the Ivy League school.

www.wsj.com

Reposted by Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, Beth Tellman

Mikhail Zinshteyn @mzinshteyn.bsky.social · Aug 1

I chased this all day:

UCLA research grants suspended after Trump administration faulted campus for antisemitism

calmatters.org/education/hi...

UCLA research grants suspended after Trump administration faulted campus for antisemitism

The Justice Department issued UCLA a notice of violation for not responding “adequately” to complaints about antisemitism.

calmatters.org

Reposted by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Amy Landers @amylanders.bsky.social · Aug 1

The USPTO's design patent search tool is also available to law firms and corporations through Clarivate (for a fee, presumably). I'm not sure how I feel about the gov't using AI that is paywalled for the private sector. But here we are. clarivate.com/intellectual...

Lisa L. Ouellette @patentscholar.bsky.social · Jul 30

Apparently OMB "reversed course" on the funding pause www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Trump Administration Scraps Effort to Pause Health-Research Funding

The administration halted and then restarted billions in new research grants flowing from the National Institutes of Health.

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