Our patent system is a public resource. Over two hundred years ago, America crafted a bargain offering inventors a limited exclusive right in exchange for disclosure of a meritorious invention. The objective was, and is today, to simultaneously encourage innovation and increase the public store of knowledge. Both public and private interest is served by robust reliance on that system. Thus, we must carefully restrict ourselves to changes to that system that are consistent with that bargain, and that encourage inventors to take advantage of its benefits.
