Hey Patent Pals!
For my final blog post, I am going to be talking about what I learned in the class. It is very sad that the course is coming to an end, and I think that I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that we are very appreciative of the time that Professor Lavian put into the course. I cannot emphasize how fun and informative this class was, and I hope that students in the future choose to take the course as well!
With regards to what I learned in the course, there is so much to talk about. From how to file a patent to how to analyze a patent, this course provided a very comprehensive overview of patents, especially with regards to wireless and mobile devices. As someone who worked at Apple last summer, technology, especially with regards to intellectual property, has always interested me very much, and I am proud to say that I am much more knowledgable about them after having been a student in this course. That being said, because there is so much to discuss, I am going to narrow what I learned to three main points:
- What Makes an Invalid Patent
- The Rise of Patent Trolls
- The Role of Intellectual Property as a Business Asset
What Makes an Invalid Patent?
In class, we learned that in order for a patent to be approved, it must satisfy three main criteria - it must be useful, novel, and non-obvious!
Usefulness - In order for a patent to be useful, it must meet a need or solve a problem. In addition, the patent must fill a current or anticipated need. As an example, a useful patent can be "reduced to practice", operated, or enabled (i.e. it can be built and function). Furthermore, a useful patent can be an improvement on an already existing patent- Novelty - Anticipation occurs when a single piece of prior art practices all of the elements of a single claim. That being said, a novel patent has not been published or implemented before. Ways around justifying a seemingly un-novel patent include answering one of the following questions. If the structure is known, are the elements used in a new way? If the function is known, is there a new problem to solve?
- Non-obviousness - Perhaps most importantly, a patent can be rejected if it is obvious, meaning that a Person having Ordinary Skill in the Art (POSITA) defines it to be that way. The patent must not be trivial or insignificant - it must serve a specific function. The example we discussed in class was the bottle cap color example.
The Rise of Patent Trolls
In class, I also learned about the rise of patent trolls. A patent troll can be loosely defined as any entity that earns or plans to earn the majority of its revenue from the licensing or enforcement of its patents. Other factors to consider include the fact that a patent troll is an entity that holds a patent for a product or process but has no intentions of developing or manufacturing it. Furthermore, a patent troll could be a party that purchases a patent from one firm, and then sues another firm for infringing on the patent. At the end of the day, the definition of “patent troll” is highly amorphous, and the types of business models, patent enforcement, and licensing practices that are considered to constitute “trolling,” as opposed to more socially acceptable forms of monetizing patent rights, vary widely in public opinion.
The Role of Intellectual Property as a Strategic Business Asset
Finally, we also learned about how intellectual property could be used as a strategic business asset. Today, intangible assets comprise 80% of the S&P 500's market value, and intellectual property is playing an increasingly larger role within a variety of industries. The mobile patent wars serve as an example of the ever-increasing size of the IP marketplace. Currently, 250,000 patents are going into smartphones, and that number continues to grow. Over the course of the last few years, server multi-billion dollar deals have taken place for IP acquisition (i.e. Google purchases Motorola Mobility. In order for IP to be a strategic business asset, companies must seek to grow them. Strategies for growth include internal use, licensing, selling, joint venture/spin-off, and/or enforcement.
The Future!
I am extremely grateful for everything that I have learned in this course. Like I mentioned, there was too much to cover, so I only discussed my top 3 biggest takeaways from the course. I speak on behalf of everyone in the class when I say that we are excited for how we can apply this knowledge in the future! I hope to one day start my own technology start-up, and knowing how to file a patent (and what makes a patent invalid) is extremely helpful. Furthermore, I now know what to do in order to fight back against a patent troll if I ever have to deal with one. Finally, I understand that a patent can be a strategic business asset, and the key is to find an effective way to monetize it in order to truly be successful.
Mo,
ReplyDeleteI really loved how you broke the course down into three main or favorite takeaways, which made the structure of your post very clear and easy to understand. I, too, incorporated patent trolls in my post on this topic, as I found them to be one of the more interesting aspects of our class. As someone who would like to enter the start-up world one day, information on trolls, who so often attack recently founded companies, will be extremely useful in the future. I too am extremely excited about how I can apply the knowledge that I learned from this course in my professional career in the future. Wonderful, post Mo!
Hi Mo,
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a really great summarizing the class! When I was writing this post, I was having trouble thinking about how to approach it because I really just think we learned so much in this course and covered so many great things! I always appreciate how you organize your post into three points, which makes it very organized and easy to follow. I definitely think a core concept that we learned in the class are the requirements of a patent; I think we were taught this so that one day, if we want to file a patent, or want ot know if something would qualify for a patent, we can go back to what we learned in this class! I also think that learning about patents trolls was a big part of the class, and taught us a lot of the implications of them. Lastly, we spent a long time on the role of IP as a business asset; personally, I thought this part of the class was very useful, especially for potential entrepreneurs! I absolutely agree with everything. Thank you so much, Mo!
Best,
Jessica
Mo,
ReplyDeleteWow this is such a wonderful post summarizing the entire semester into some key points of information! I also really enjoyed your graphics! I obviously agree with you that one of the main takeaways from this course was learning and understand what makes a patent invalid, or valid. I also personally thought this class helped me grow in awareness of existing technologies and market opportunities as well as increasing my efforts in remaining visibile to the public on the internet in a positive and professional light. This was a great summary, but it would have been cool to hear a little bit about what you may have taken away from the course on a more personal level!
Sasha
Mo,
ReplyDeleteThis is quite the amazing post. You did a fantastic job going over what we learnt this class, and I really liked how you were able to categorize them into three main bullets and went into great detail for each. Like you, I really enjoyed learning about the rise of patent trolls. Prior to this class, I did not know how active they are and what a huge negative impact they have in the world of innovations. I also did not know they are targeting startups, making the lives of these companies extremely horrible. The fact that the current U.S. patent system is not doing enough to prevent this is quite upsetting, especially for someone like myself who is interested in developing their own product one day.
I, too, am really grateful for everything we have learnt in this class. I agree this class is so incredibly fun, useful and informative, and I would definitely encourage everyone to take it!
Hi Mo,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a really great job with summarizing the course with this post. I always like how your posts are so well thought out. Despite only mentioning three (of the largest) takeaways, you were able to bring together so many different ideas. As someone who is also interested in possibly creating a technology start-up, I felt the information we learned was also incredibly applicable. Thank you for a great post!
Hi Mo,
ReplyDeleteThis was a phenomenal post! You clearly summarized the main takeaways over the whole semester with concise and efficient detail. The three topics you decided to split the class into couldn't have been better. Reading this post makes me stop and appreciate all of the tangible things we learned throughout this course. I am sure Professor Lavian would be proud of what your last sentence describes. I hope that all of us remember that a patent can be a very valuable asset and can be a key to success.
As always, greatest visuals in the class, hands down. I thought you did a clear and great job summarizing the major points of patent engineering through the whole semester. I agree with all of the points you made, and I agree that we have learned a lot in this course. Hopefully, we are all able to leverage what we learned this semester in the future to protect our own intellectual property!
ReplyDelete