Abstract
This Note argues patent protection should not extend to legal methods because of the professional responsibilities lawyers owe to the profession and to clients. Part II explains why legal methods merit discussion today. To appreciate the effects legal method patents could have on the legal profession, Part II then presents an overview of pertinent patent law and explains how legal methods are likely eligible for patent protection. Part III raises the question whether legal methods should receive patent protection in light of social and economic considerations. Part IV addresses implications for a lawyer’s professional obligations if courts extend patent protection over legal methods. And Part V considers who bears the ultimate costs from legal method patents.
Recommended Citation
Stephanie L. Varela,
Damned If You Do, Doomed If You Don't: Patenting Legal Methods and its Effect on Lawyers' Professional Responsibilities,
60 Fla. L. Rev.
1145
(2008).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol60/iss5/4