Introduction to Intellectual Property

Grading Results Posted

Grading results from the Spring 2004 class have been posted.

Question Time Closed

I believe I've answered all questions that made it within the deadline.

Best of luck on your exams, and have a great summer. I look forward to seeing you in the Fall.

Question Deadline

In order to be fair for all (and to prevent any confusion), the question deadline--the time after which I will no longer answer exam-related questions--will be 10:00 PM on Monday, April 19. I'll try to have all questions answered--and posted to the blog--by midnight April 19.

Update: Laptops okay

The Registrar's Office has agreed to allow the use of laptops during the exam. This is obviously optional -- the entire exam is scan-tron (bring a #2 pencil!) -- but it might be useful for those of you who have notes, etc. only in electronic form.

The Registar asks that you recognize that this is an exception to the school's firm 'no laptops without examsoft' policy, and not agitate with her office for broader exceptions. That is, arguments of the form "But we're allowed to do it in Professor Wagner's exam . . ." will be dismissed out-of-hand.

Review Session & Exam Week Procedures

A few key dates to keep in mind:

Tuesday, April 13 is our last class session.

Tuesday, April 20 is the exam.

I will be out of town (speaking at UVA) from mid-day Wednesday to mid-day Friday. I may have some internet access during that time (I will do my best), but I will not be physically available in my office from the end of the day on Tuesday, April 13 until early on Monday the 19th.

We will, however, have an optional review session on Monday, April 19 at 1:30 PM in Room 240B. There is no agenda for this session; I'll merely be there to answer questions, etc.

Also, I encourage everyone to ask questions via the class blog. I will post answers here.

Exam Details

The exam is finished. For your information and preparation, I've posted the 'instructions' page (which contains information about the number of questions, etc.) here.

The exam has 63 questions, and a time limt of 2 hours. All multiple choice/scan-tron. Completely open book and open notes.

Sample Exam

As promised, I've developed a full-fledged sample exam. It contains 19 questions - with a mix of copyright, patent and trademark questions (the patent questions I've posted before).

Answers and some explanations are provided in the document as well.

Download the sample exam here.

Postings

Over the last few days, the final set of materials has been posted:

• Supplementary Reading for Class 23


• Class Exercise Handout for Class 24


• Supplementary Readings for Class 25

You can also find these links on the Course Schedule page.

I will send a print order into the Basement later today that should incorporate any remaining unprinted suppements for the course.

Remember that class on Thursday, April 15 is cancelled so as to allow for study time before your exam.

This may be of interest...

SmartTalk

Date: Wednesday April 7, 2004

Time: 12noon -1:30 pm
Complimentary Lunch

Topic: Patent Expansion: What you need to know before you see a patent attorney.

Place: WEDGE Conference Room
Science Center 3rd Floor
3701 Market Street, 3rd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Summary:

Understanding the process and the role of the company and scientists in
protecting Intellectual Property is vital to the existence and growth of
your company. Yet too often, obtaining that information from patent
attorneys can be very expensive. Both scientists and entrepreneurs will
learn some of the basics of the patent application process and some
necessary steps to protect and expand the intellectual property assets of
your technology. A proactive approach can increase the patent portfolio and
the assets of your company and reduce costs. The information will be
presented from the viewpoint of the scientist and entrepreneur.

Speaker: Sandra McElligott, Ph.D. - President and CEO, Bio.enterprise LLC

Dr. McElligott has over 20 years of experience in life sciences and
biotechnology with both Fortune 50 companies and small startup companies
raising several millions of grants and funding. A former DuPont Co. Senior
Research Biochemist, Program Director and later Vice President of R&D for
Biologics at DCV Inc., she has developed products and licensed technology
that generated more than $70 million in revenue. As founder of
Bio.enterprise, she has helped early-stage research companies develop
winning grant proposals, expand their patent portfolio, and establish
strategic partnerships among other milestones. Dr. McElligott holds four
issued patents and nine pending patent applications. Her research and
development work has resulted in nine commercialized products and over
thirty publications and abstracts.

RSVP: Nancy duPont at ndupont@sciencecenter.org
by 1pm, Monday, April 5, 2004

The 'real' class excercise case.

As I noted in class, the class exercise for patents was a real case. Specifically, it is DeMarini v Worth, 239 F.3d 1314 (Fed. Cir. 2001). Download it here.

Consider for yourself whether the court's decision on infringement under the DOE is convincing. I generally think the class did a better job of grappling with the difficult issues than does the Federal Circuit. Also note the absence of prosecution history estoppel analysis.