This is a patent-writing assignment, following the lectures on intellectual property and the guest lecture by Thomas Zimmerman on the art of patent writing.
For this assignment, prepare a LATEX document that describes an invention of something useful that you have thought about. The document should have the shape and form of a patent, as discussed in class. In particular, there should be an abstract, some discussion of prior art, a description of the invention, drawings, at least one independent claim and a couple of dependent claims. The slides of Zimmerman's presentation do not contain information about dependent and independent claims, but there was extensive coverage of these in class. Detailed information about dependent and independent claims can be found at several online sites, including http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2014/07/12/understanding-patent-claims/id=50349/.
Here are some additional considerations:
It is ne to extract an outline for a patent (but not the description of what is being invented) from one of the three patents by Zimmerman in the patent repository at the class webpages or some other patent you have found online. The pdf le of the patent that Zimmerman discussed in class is also posted at the Lectures section of the class webpages.
It is not acceptable to copy an existing patent and just paraphrase it.
It is perfectly ne to write about a half-baked idea. If you cannot come up with a half-baked idea, you may get inspiration by visiting http://www.halfbakery.com/ and picking one of the half-baked ideas listed there. If you do so, please state this explicitly in your document. The same applies if the inspiration for your invention comes from some other source.
The purpose of this assignment is not to convince a patent examiner that you have a patentable in-vention, but, rather, to learn more about patents and get some experience with what it takes to write a patent. If you think you have a patentable invention, do not write about it in this assignment - you will divulging your invention to others.
Your document should include some drawings. Do not spend too much time perfecting your drawings. It is acceptable to just draw them by hand and include a scanned copy in your document.
Please spell-check and proofread your document before submitting it.
Your document should be about three pages long, not counting the space used for drawings.
Use the LATEX fullpage package and 11pt font size.
Submit a zip le with both the source LATEX le and the pdf le(s).
Timetable
(All deadlines are before midnight)
Final draft due on Wednesday February 28, 2018.
Final review and peer grading due on Saturday March 3, 2018.
