Category Archives: patent agent

Week Three – Capstone Projects

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Week three is here, and on Friday our students have their first real assignment due for the Capstone classes. The Capstone is a year-long project, in which the students end up having written a real, complete, hopefully fileable patent application. Being able to write a patent application is one of the bread-and-butter activities of a patent agent; and a real asset to prospective employers.

The students’ deliverable this week is to write a synopsis of the technology that they’ll be working on for the rest of the year, including a list of features that are potentially patentable. They will use the synopsis in their Capstone class, as they start to write claims for the invention; and for the Searching class that Ron is teaching, to determine what is actually patentable in the disclosure they’ve chosen. I’m looking forward to learning more about all of these exciting technologies, which have been kindly donated by ND professors!

Also this week, we hosted an Open House so next years’ prospective students can learn more about the MSPL. Tom Mauch and Mike Wack (our faculty teaching both semesters of Patent Law; patent attorney and patent agent at BioMet) were kind enough to join us. If you missed this one, we’ll be hosting a couple more Open Houses this semester: in Chicago on Nov. 7; and on campus on Nov. 11. RSVP to Cathi Kennedy (ckenned7@nd.edu) if you want to come to either one — dinner is provided!

I didn’t remember to take a photo during the Open House, but I took this photo afterward. I’m still learning how to use all of the fun features on a relatively recently new phone!

Goofing off after the Open House!
Goofing off after the Open House!

More recruiting!

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Last night was the Fall Career Expo and Engineering Industry events here at Notre Dame. The MSPL had a booth at both events, and I got to meet quite a few students interested in careers as patent agents. Hopefully they will all join the MSPL in the next few years!

Today I have had a series of exciting meetings. Two of my big goals are getting the MSPL to Chicago and online for next academic year. Nothing is definite yet, but these meetings make me hope that I might be able to accomplish both of those things! Stay tuned for more details….

Settling into the semester

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MSPL students have made it through the second week of classes. Our students are getting started on their Capstone projects: most have talked to their inventors already, and are starting to get a feel for what they’ve really signed up for.

Inventor interviews are one of the best parts of patent prosecution, and something that patent agents get to do all the time. By definition, inventors have something new and cool to tell you about. They  are therefore usually really enthusiastic about their subject matter, and, especially at a University like Notre Dame, they’re really smart people!

Next week in my class and also in Hal’s class, we’re going to start writing claims. Claims are the part of the patent that defines the property right of the patent owner. They are therefore the most important part of the patent; and not surprisingly, the most difficult to write. I think our students are really going to enjoy claims drafting — it’s like a big jigsaw puzzle to try to find how the pieces should all go together!