Law 797:  Patent Prosecution

This class teaches aspiring patent attorneys how to turn a raw invention disclosure into an issued U.S. Patent. Students start with a typical invention disclosure, perform a mock inventor interview, and draft a complete patent application including specification and claims. The patent application then proceeds through a thorough examination process meant to simulate the examination process of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). As part of the examination process, students draft multiple responses to rejections of their claims by the “PTO”. This class focuses on the practical concerns involved in the drafting and prosecution of a patent application, as well as dealing with clients, and provides the student with practical patent prosecution skills that can be put to use immediately.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Patent Law (Law 645) is a prerequisite course. Please note that passage of the PTO’s Registration Exam is required to allow an attorney to represent an inventor before the PTO. Under PTO rules, only persons with a degree in engineering or “hard” science (or similar technical experience) are eligible to sit for the Registration Exam. More information is available at the PTO’s website at www.uspto.gov.

Evaluation: Simulated exercises and projects.

Course Classification:  Experiential