• Associate Professor, School of Law

• B.S. at MIT
• J.D. at University of Pennsylvania

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Supreme Court to rule on patent law -- Quanta v. LG "Patent holder had a right to sue a downstream purchaser," says patent law expert Jan. 22, 2008 -- Reversing the longstanding case law would give undue windfall to opportunistic third parties, says Kieff. The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing Quanta v. LG, a case that could determine the future direction of patent law. "This case is key to ensuring that patent law develops in a way that best promotes innovation and competition," says F. Scott Kieff, J.D., professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. Kieff and colleagues have filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in support of LG, arguing that under contract law the patent holder had a right to sue a downstream purchaser. Kieff will be closely following this case and is available for comment.

From the courts High profile patent cases like those against eBay and Blackberry important for encouraging innovation April 3, 2006 -- David Kilper / WUSTL Photo Threat of injunctions can be beneficial in cases like eBay and BlackBerry, says WUSTL expert F. Scott Kieff. Download The threat of an injunction to protect patented technology, as seen in eBay v. MercExchange, is what drives infringers and patentees to strike deals — sometimes on the steps of the courthouse — because shutting down the business would lose money for both sides, says F. Scott Kieff, J.D., an associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. These deals, he points out, are what drive innovation. More...

Intellectual property and bankruptcy law reform Push toward creditor protectionism may damage intellectual property rights; special purpose entities are ?essential? May 4, 2004 -- The rise of corporate bankruptcies over the last few years has prompted legislators and academics alike to push for bankruptcy law reform. Fearing the death of legal liability, these reformers are calling for increased creditor protectionism through the weakening of limited liability and the reversal of "judgment proof" transactions such as the creation of special purpose entities (SPE) commonly used for the sequestering of assets. "Letting intellectual property (IP) assets slip into a bankruptcy estate is a dangerous idea," says Troy Paredes, associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

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Backed patent bill in trouble in U.S. Senate The Guardian (UK) and 10 others April 15, 2008 -- A long-negotiated patent overhaul bill sought by technology companies and opposed by big pharmaceutical makers ran into trouble in the U.S. Senate. Scott Kieff, WUSTL law professor and patent law expert, comments.

Commentary: Let The Markets Regulate Microsoft Forbes.com March 12, 2008 -- WUSTL law professor Scott Kieff writes a commentary about regulating Microsoft. He is also a research fellow at Stanford University' s Hoover Institution, where he runs the Hoover Project on Commercializing Innovation, which studies the law, economics and politics of innovation.

How a patent ruling Is changing court cases The Wall Street Journal July 31, 2007 -- Three months after the Supreme Court handed down what many called a landmark patent decision, judges have begun to rule in favor of companies defending themselves against infringement lawsuits. Some experts in law and economics think affording judges discretion in analyzing an obviousness defense is not a good thing. "Flexibility has an Achilles' heel, which is that people with the biggest lobbying and litigation budgets, and the best public relations, win," said Scott Kieff, a WUSTL law professor, who has argued for predictable rules in the patent system.

Kieff teaches law school courses on contracts, patents, trademarks, contracts and intellectual property, law and economics of patents, and biotechnology. He is currently a faculty fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford, after two years of a faculty fellowship in the Olin Program at Harvard Law School. Kieff took up his present post at Washington University after transitioning from his practice as a trial lawyer and intellectual property lawyer with Jenner & Block in Chicago and Pennie & Edmonds in New York by serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Northwestern University School of Law and the University of Chicago Law School. Having trained in science and economics at MIT and in law at the University of Pennsylvania, Kieff served as law clerk to Judge Giles Rich at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.