A post from student blogger Nicole

It’s weird to think that things are winding down and coming to an end, well almost. Besides the project in my tech elective, everything else seems to be ending already.  Having done my final presentation and handing in my final document soon, there’s not much left to do.  The next and almost last step is the Markman Hearing.  This is a hearing in which a judge examines evidence from all parties on the appropriate meanings of relevant key words used in a patent claim, when patent infringement is alleged by a plaintiff.  Once this is done it’s going to be time for finals.  It all just seems so sudden, especially this blog.  My last one.  Writing these blogs has been an awesome experience.  I remember in the beginning of the year when I wrote my first one and thinking to myself what am I going to write about for 19 more blogs.  Well I did it.  Twenty blogs later and here I am writing the last one.

I’ve decided to take a trip down memory lane.  Going back to the first week of school, the boot camp days.  The patent law boot camp was a great way to introduce everyone to patent law.  Although it was only a week long, I felt that I learned so much.  We can’t forget about the South Bend Cubs game either!  It was great to socialize with everyone outside of a school setting and we’ll never forget how funny it was when Dan and Chris went down onto the field to race on kid hopper balls.  Great first impression.  Now moving on to our classes.  I didn’t realize how much I learned until looking back now.  The teachers we had were irreplaceable with such great personalities.  From Mike’s crazy patents to Ron’s awesome stories about patent searching competitions in Japan, and we can’t forget about Jerry’s enthusiasm and loud voice and his extremely accurate Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.  As for this semester, Keith has taught us so much about patent prosecution.  We are now all experts on water slides.  Brad’s jokes towards patent law definitely helped keep the class interesting, especially his feelings about PCT applications.  Amy’s class is short, only half a semester, but I’m glad she’s the one that’s teaching it.  She has a great personality and although it’s a dreaded 8am class, she keeps everyone awake and involved in the discussions.

We all wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Karen.  I just want to thank her for picking such an awesome staff and creating this program.  Also a shout out to Cathi!  Who else would I send my blogs to and have coordinate my presentations.  Thank you everyone for such a great year.