Fraud on the Patent Office: A Source of Antitrust Litigation

Authors

Dennis P. Mankin

Abstract

Recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in Walker Process Equipment, Inc. v. Food Machinery and Chemical Corp., and the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in American Cyanamid Co. v. Federal Trade Commission, holding that fraud on the Patent Office may give rise to a hazard of liability under Section 2 of the Sherman Act and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, raise several questions. It is the function of this paper to inquire into Patent Office procedure as it relates to possibilities for fraudulent conduct, and then to consider the nature of fraud as it relates to the Patent Office and the evidentiary standards under both antitrust acts. Finally, the antitrust aspects of these decisions and possible actions that can be brought thereunder will be explored. At the outset a brief review of the development of fraud on the Patent Office will provide a basis for the more specific discussion which follows.

First Page

107

Recommended Citation

Dennis P. Mankin, Fraud on the Patent Office: A Source of Antitrust Litigation, 7 Duq. L. Rev. 107 (1968).
Available at: https://dsc.duq.edu/dlr/vol7/iss1/16