dwestfall
My Schedule
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Developing, Protecting, and Transferring Intellectual Property in Undergraduate Capstone Courses
4 Attendees
Location
Mason II
Type Intellectual Property, Papers
To successfully complete the Engineering Technology Capstone Design Sequence at Texas A&M, student teams must function as small startup ventures to transition an idea, opportunity or problem statement to a fully functional product prototype ready for operational testing and validation. With the programs' new-found success, both public and private sector organizations are becoming actively involved in the sponsorship of capstone projects. Issues such as intellectual property rights and licensing are now being addressed so that guidelines and procedures are in place to insure a true winning experience for students, faculty and the external sponsor. Working with the Office of Technology Commercialization, our programs have established a formal process for protecting and transferring intellectual property know-how to the sponsoring organization or managing the IP for licensing and commercialization. This session describes the process, provides examples of success, and presents the lessons learned.
Tags Sat 2D1
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Reforming the USPTO to Give a Fair Shake to Independent Pro Se Inventor-applicants
2 Attendees
Location
Mason II
Type Intellectual Property, Papers
The US Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) does not collect data on pro se (without legal representation) patent applications. Therefore, the challenges faced by the pro se inventor-applicants are hidden. The author subjected himself to the PTO's patent examination process as a pro se applicant for a first-hand experience of the process, which resulted in an issued patent in December 2009. The author's experience is included as an illustrative case with a contributed third-party evaluation by a registered patent attorney. A tool proposed in this presentation assesses the quality of the patent examination process at the USPTO. The author demonstrates how, at various stages in the examination process, the pro se applicant is pushed to the point of abandoning his/her application prematurely. Detailed recommendations for reforming the USPTO are offered; the USPTO is making an effort to make the changes recommended.
Tags Sat 2D2
12:30 PM
to 2:00 PM
