R. Polk Wagner
Michael A. Fitts Professor of Law

Polk Wagner (@ProfPolkWagner) focuses his research and teaching in intellectual property law and policy, with a special interest in patent law. He has written over 20 articles (see them here) on topics ranging from an empirical analysis of judicial decision-making in the patent law to the First Amendment status of software programs.
Books
PATENT LAW: CONCEPTS AND INSIGHTS (Foundation Press 2008) (with C. Nard).
Articles and Book Chapters
Teva and the Process of Claim Construction, 70 FLA. L. REV. 379 (2018) (with Lee Petherbridge).
Unenforceability, 71 WASH. & LEE L. REV. 1751 (2013) (with Lee Petherbridge and Jason Rantanen).
Life After Bilski, 63 STAN. L. REV. 1315 (2011) (with M. Lemley, M. Risch, T. Sichelman)
The Two Federal Circuits, 43 LOY. L.A. L. REV. 785 (2010).
Understanding Patent-Quality Mechanisms, 157 U. PA. L. REV. 2135 (2009).
The Supreme Court and the Future of Patent Reform, 55 FED. LAW. 35 (2008)
Comments on “Stealth Marketing and Editorial Integrity”, 85 TEX. L. REV. SEEALSO 17 (2006).
The Perfect Storm: Intellectual Property and Public Values, 74 FORDHAM L. REV. 423 (2005).
Patent Portfolios, 154 U. PA. L. REV. 1 (2005) (with G. Parchomovsky).
Reconsidering the DMCA, 42 HOUST. L. REV. 1107 (2005).
On Software Regulation, 78 S. CAL. L. REV. 457 (2005).
Exactly Backwards: Exceptionalism and the Federal Circuit, 54 CASE W. RES. L. REV. 749 (2004).
Of Patents and Path Dependency: A Comment on Burk & Lemley, 18 BERKELEY TECH. L.J. 1341 (2004).
Reconsidering Estoppel: Patent Administration & the Failure of Festo, 151 U. PA. L. REV. 159 (2002).
Filters and the First Amendment, 83 MINN. L. REV. 755 (1999).
The Medium is the Mistake: The Law of Software for the First Amendment, 51 STAN. L. REV. 387 (1999).
More publications can be found here.
Working Papers
Unenforceability: Research Report (November 16, 2012), U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 12-28 (with Lee Petherbridge & Jason Rantanen).
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Research Areas
- Intellectual Property
- Patent Law
- Copyright Law
- Trademark Law
- eCommerce Law
- Cyberlaw/Internet Law
- Law and Technology
Positions
Penn Law - Professor of Law (2005- ); Co-Director for Technology, Innovation, and Competition (2009- ); Assistant Professor (2000-05)
Law Clerk to the Hon. Clevenger, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (1998-2000)
Courses
- Property Law
- Patent Law & Policy
- Introduction to Intellectual Property Law & Policy
- Patent Law Appellate Advocacy