Technology, Politics, and Society in China Book

I read this book in its entirety for an intellectual property class, and it helped my understanding of the subject greatly. That said, it's not an ideal textbook for a university class for two reasons.

First, it's outdated. The 5th edition was written before the America Invents Act (Patent Reform Act) was signed into law, so it has a lot of outdated info about patents in it. The US is no longer a "first to invent" country, it is a "first to file" for example. The chapters on software patents, business methods, and the internet are all as outdated as a 5-year-old computer. No mention of digital currency, online legal services, or other things a contemporary manager needs to know.

Second, it approaches law developmentally. As an engineer taking a law class, I'm not going to be tested on the history of how the law developed. I will be tested on how to apply the law. I don't need to read outdated, long-winded passages about how the courts finally settled on a way to define what can be patented, I just need to know what can be patented. For the most part, the book puts this applicable information in text boxes throughout, but it could do better.

It would also help if after every case brief, writ, opinion, etc... there was a text box outlining what was important about this particular case, and how it affects case law. It would be an easy way to get info at a glance when referencing. Overall, a good book for its time, but outdated and written more for budding lawyers than engineers who haven't "read" a textbook since high school.