A post from student blogger Brittany

If you’ve been following my blogs from the beginning you know that I just completed my doctorate degree before coming to the MSPL program. To close out the first semester everyone had to present their capstone projects to the director of the program and their respective research faculty member. I was slightly nervous about the presentations due to the fact that I still hadn’t recovered from my dissertation defense from months back.

The day of my first capstone presentation I felt prepared until someone told me minutes before walking over to set up that “oh he’s tough”. The nerves immediately sat in and they were quite evident during the first few minutes of the presentation. I definitely felt as though I was right back in front of my committee members without the benefit of having worked on the project for the last 5 years.

Overall I think that both capstone presentations went well for a variety of reasons. Importantly, it gave the inventors an opportunity to see their invention through the eyes of someone else.  Although the capstone presentation was supposed to be a test of my knowledge regarding the technology and patent law, I saw it as a test for the inventor as well. This was a test for the inventor to ensure that they provided all the necessary information for someone other than themselves to successfully “make, use or sale” their invention.

While discussing patent laws and how the results of the prior art search may influence the patentability of their invention, I could see a slight bit of fear in the eyes of the inventors. I had to simultaneously ease the concerns of the inventors while being honest about the patent prosecution process. Despite the butterflies, the dialog between Karen, the inventors and myself was extremely helpful in determining, which claims needed to be revised, and the most effective way to communicate patent law to my client.