Federal Circuit Judge Newman Calls for Overhaul of Patent Law

The laws that have served the U.S. patent system for hundreds of years don’t hold up to modern science and technology, Judge Pauline Newman of the nation’s highest patent court said at a conference Friday.

“New technology needs a new look and a new understanding,” Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said at a virtual intellectual property conference hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s law school. “We need to rethink patent law from scratch.”

Newman frequently dissents from the court’s patent opinions, usually promoting the rights of patent owners. Now in her 90s, ...