In our Capstone class this week, we wrote claims. Again. 😉

This week, the students wrote claims for coasters. You know, those things you put your drinks on when it’s humid outside. There are three coasters, each slightly different from the others; so the students broke into small groups and each group wrote a claim for a coaster.

Do you have a coaster handy? Pick it up, and notice how “simple” it is. Each of our coasters has a top layer (keeps the water off the table); and a bottom layer (keeps the coaster from slipping around on the table). Even as simple as our coasters are, it took over 30 minutes to write claims about them… and I think that was pretty efficient!

That’s what patent agents do. They have to thoroughly describe the invention. And that kind of thorough description doesn’t come easily. It has to be carefully thought out. And after that, the description has to be translated into the appropriate legal language to make the description into a claim that can be enforced against an infringer.