{"id":1017,"date":"2014-12-16T14:39:36","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T14:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/?p=1017"},"modified":"2015-02-09T19:25:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T19:25:00","slug":"argue-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/2014\/12\/16\/argue-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"Argue everything"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"It\u2019s<\/a>

It\u2019s that time of year again: finals and the holidays.<\/p><\/div>\n

A post from our student blogger Megan<\/em><\/p>\n

See that title?\u00a0 Yep.\u00a0 That\u2019s my philosophy.\u00a0 Since I became a licensed attorney in 2011 my outlook on life in general changed.\u00a0 Instead of accepting what life threw at me with little complaint\u2014 even if it made me uncomfortable or angry\u2014I decided to radically change my reaction to how I dealt with the roller coaster we call life.\u00a0 No more would I be a passive life participant, I decided I would argue my beliefs.\u00a0 Patent law has reiterated my will to go to battle for what I want to passionately pursue. \u00a0While the title might seem arrogant, believe me, it is not.\u00a0 There is a method to my madness.\u00a0 Let me explain.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s December here at Notre Dame and while the world is suiting up in light-up reindeer sweaters and toasting with egg nog toddies, the MSPL students are preparing to present their projects to their mentors.\u00a0 This activity is more commonly known to graduate students round the world as \u201cdefending your thesis\u201d.\u00a0 This single phrase can send shock waves of terror through any sleep-deprived grad student from Hong Kong to Bemidji.\u00a0 But what do we have to fear?\u00a0 Well, everything.\u00a0 On a positive note, we have been preparing for this day for the last sixteen weeks.\u00a0 The time has come to show off what we have learned.\u00a0 The time has arrived.\u00a0 It is time to dazzle our advisors with the evidence of how hard we have worked.<\/p>\n

Our job is to convince our mentors that we understand the underlying technology that they have developed.\u00a0 We are also charged with reconciling patent laws to the technology and then explaining this concept to them.\u00a0 Patentability as a legal theory is far more complicated than merely filling out an application and sending it to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, though.\u00a0 And explaining this concept to scientists and engineers can be daunting.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest obstacles that we have all encountered in our patent application drafting journey is the fact that there are a lot of other related patents, publications, and information already existing on the inventions that we are trying to patent.\u00a0 Basic patent laws dictate that if the invention already exists within the public domain, patent protection will not be granted.\u00a0 The question becomes, how do you deal with this?\u00a0 More importantly, how do you explain this to your mentors?\u00a0 First things first, don\u2019t give up.\u00a0 It is easy to say that you have an invention that does not deserve legal protection when you find something that looks similar to what you are trying to patent.\u00a0 When encountering this roadblock it is, in fact, a great time to really inspect the subject matter that you are trying to patent\u2014it has to be new.\u00a0 Take a step back, reexamine your position and add more evidence to see if you can form a better argument regarding novelty.\u00a0 Even if you can show the slightest bit of inventive newness, then you are placing yourself in a much better position to earn a patent.<\/p>\n

Life is full of rejection, though, and the patent prosecution process is no exception.\u00a0 So even if you believe that your invention is patentable, and you have satisfied all the statutory requirements within the four corners of your patent application, you might still receive a rejection.\u00a0 Once again, don\u2019t give up.\u00a0 Argue against that rejection, present evidence, or amend your claims:\u00a0 whatever you choose to do, stand your ground and bolster your opinion.\u00a0 When you base your application around well-written claims, a strong specification, and a thorough search, you can argue everything.<\/p>\n

As can see, my \u201cargue everything\u201d mentality is not just for lawyers that are backed into a corner.\u00a0 It\u2019s also not just applicable to patent law, and it\u2019s certainly not a blanket statement indicating that you should fight without merit.\u00a0 It is a justification that shows you are confident in your preparations and understanding.\u00a0 It\u2019s a daily practice because \u201ca great explanation can make our ideas come to life, invite people to care and be motivated to learn more.”[1]\u00a0 So get out there and argue everything.<\/p>\n

[1] Lefever, Lee,\u00a0 The Art of Explanation:\u00a0 Making your Ideas, Products, and Services Easier to Understand<\/em>, (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), preface xi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A post from our student blogger Megan See that title?\u00a0 Yep.\u00a0 That\u2019s my philosophy.\u00a0 Since I became a licensed attorney in 2011 my outlook on life in general changed.\u00a0 Instead of accepting what life threw at me with little complaint\u2014 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29602],"tags":[49348],"class_list":["post-1017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-blog-posts","tag-patent-agent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1019,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017\/revisions\/1019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/patentlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}