Often one hears of invalid patents, but a patent is invalid if, and only if, all of its claims are invalid. The rest of the patent lays out the general framework within which the invention lies, but the claims set the metes and bounds of what is protected. Continue Maybe you misread the question. If not, I can't imagine what you had in mind. For that reason, it is often important to distinguish practical and legal effects carefully.
Patents have no legal effect until they issue.
Continue I hope you agreed in part because of what I said in footnote 45 of the article. If you have any additional ideas, I'd like to hear them. Continue I'd be interested to find out why you disagree. However, I urge you to consider what I said in footnote 45 of the article. Few statements in the law are so absolutely true.