What makes him an expert in knowing what constitutes prior art in a
country in which he doesn't even reside
He's not claiming to be
a legal expert. He's claiming to be an expert in the field of touch interfaces.
In that case, he is claiming to be familiar with the current and past "state of
the art". In other words, he has been keeping up with what other similar
researchers have been doing throughout the world. Since prior art anywhere in
the world would invalidate a patent, it doesn't matter where he resides so long
as he knows what other similar researchers are doing throughout the world. The
legal implications of his knowledge would of course be up to the court.
Of course, it's entirely possible for prior art to exist which is
unknown to anyone in the academic world. UI design isn't something that requires
many years of study to learn and it's quite possible for a clever person to hack
together a good solution without being involved in the academic world. That
however is a problem that is inherent to the patent system itself.
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