Skill – 1 unit. This skill-based course focuses on advocacy skills in the context of patent litigation. With minimal lectures, students will learn by doing and receiving real-time feedback. The class will be taught as a series of collaborative projects, negotiation simulations, brief writing, and mock court arguments. Among other things, students will learn how to effectively advocate on their feet and distill highly technical material into content more easily understood by a judge and jury – skills that are useful beyond patent litigation. Students will gain the skills needed to become effective “claim construction” advocates. In patent litigation, courts construe the meaning of patent claims during a “claim construction” hearing. This hearing is often a critical inflection point in a patent case because patent claims define the protected invention. Over the semester, students will identify patent claim terms for construction, craft proposed claim constructions, mine patent specifications and prosecution histories for evidence supporting their constructions, negotiate with opposing counsel over claim construction issues, draft claim construction briefing, and craft and deliver effective claim construction oral argument.
No scientific or technical background needed. This course will be taught in a 9-week accelerated format.
Prerequisite: 274 Intellectual Property or instructor consent.
Final Assessment: Skills Class Final Assignment (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.