Notre Dame’s MS in Patent Law (MSPL) prepares scientists and engineers to help inventors get patents.

The MSPL is a one-academic-year program, at Notre Dame’s campus in South Bend, IN. We prepare our students for practice as patent agents, through a curriculum of hands-on, practical learning. Candidates must be Patent Bar eligible, which means they have a science or engineering background.

If the MS in Patent Law is an option for you, make sure your completed application* is submitted by December 15, 2013! All students who submit complete applications by that date, and who then join the MSPL’s 2014-2015 cohort, will receive a $2000 discount on their tuition!

We are also excited to announce that we are expanding our offerings and our locations to better serve more students! Starting in the 2014-2015 academic year, Notre Dame will offer a Certificate in Patent Prosecution at our Chicago campus.

Notre Dame will continue to offer the MS in Patent Law at our campus in South Bend, IN.

Faculty from the Certificate and MS program will be available at both events, to talk with you about career options in patent law (have you ever heard of a patent agent?). Of course, food and beverages will be available at both events, too!

Chicago Open House

Date: November 7, 2013
Time: 5:30-7:00 PM Central time
Location: 224 S. Michigan Ave.*
Suite 250, Mezzanine Level
Chicago, IL

*224 S. Michigan is the building formerly known as the Santa Fe building, located right across the street from the Art Institute.

RSVP for the Chicago Open House here

Notre Dame Campus Open House

Date: November 11, 2013
Time: 6:00-7:00pm Eastern time
Location: Innovation Park*
1400 E. Angela Blvd.
South Bend, IN

*Across the street from the Compton Ice Arena

RSVP for the Notre Dame Campus Open House here

 

 

*Completed applications, for the purposes of consideration for the tuition discount, include informal transcripts, GRE/LSAT scores, and all required personal statements. (Previously this incorrectly stated that the tuition discount was not applicable to the Chicago certificate program; we regret the error.)

If the MS in Patent Law is an option for you, make sure your completed application* is submitted by December 15, 2013! All students who submit complete applications by that date, and who then join the MSPL’s 2014-2015 cohort, will receive a $2000 discount on their tuition!

The MSPL is a one-academic-year program, at Notre Dame’s campus in South Bend, IN. We prepare our students for practice as patent agents, through a curriculum of hands-on, practical learning. Candidates must be Patent Bar eligible, which means they have a science or engineering background.

Patent agents usually work at law firms and at R&D-based companies, where they help inventors protect their inventions by getting patents. Many of our graduates, like Kerisha Bowen, have gone on to work at law firms in major markets. Our graduates are in high demand from law firms across the country.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about the MSPL, please contact the program Director, Prof. Karen Deak. We will also be hosting an Open House in Chicago on November 7, 2013.

 

 

*Completed applications, for the purposes of consideration for the tuition discount, include informal transcripts, GRE/LSAT scores, and all required personal statements.

It’s been a quiet week on campus, since it’s been Fall Break! I think everyone has been ready for it, too!

I’ve spent my week catching up – doing some writing that I should have done a long time ago about my ideas to move the MS in Patent Law forward; and also taking care of some things at home that I’ve been putting off. Most importantly, I spent this Thursday in Chicago, working on what we’ll be doing there over the next couple of years. Stay tuned for exciting details!

Cathi has had a busy week while the students were gone. On Monday she was at the Big 10 Grad Fair at Purdue, and on Thursday she was at Loyola at their graduate fair. She got to meet a bunch of great people, some of whom will hopefully be joining the MS in Patent Law in the next few years.

Probably the most exciting thing that happened this week is that we held the first organizing meeting for what Notre Dame will be doing at the 2014 International BIO convention. Again, we have big plans in the works; I’ll keep you updated as those plans come together, too.

Monday we were fortunate to have a guest lecture from Jack Regan, a partner at WilmerHale. Jack is an ND alum (Government major), and is now a patent litigator – which means he tries patent cases in court in front of a judge and jury.

Jack told us about a case he’s currently involved in, which he will shortly argue at the Federal Circuit (where all patent cases go on appeal). Specifically, Jack explained what a Markman hearing is: where a judge decides what the claims in a patent really mean. In the Markman hearing, the two sides argue about what claim terms mean based on how the claims are written and also on the other language in the patent itself. The Markman hearing happens before the “real” trial, and can sometimes decide the case without it ever going to a judge or jury.

Jack was in town for the Oklahoma game (enough about football!). Usually we do our Lunch-and-Learns on Football Fridays in the fall, but Jack couldn’t make it to campus on Friday because he was wrapped up with his caseload. It was great to hear from Jack right now, because our students are starting to think about claims for their Capstone technologies, so it was a great opportunity to reinforce that claims need to be clearly and accurately written.