This course will provide the engineer with a basic understanding of the laws that surround the protection of ideas, discoveries, and inventions, including the intellectual property (IP) law principles that surround patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets.
A joint invention arises from the combined efforts of two or more inventors. Once a patent is granted, however, the inventors do not necessarily share in the rewards.
Laboratory notebooks and provisional patent applications can be valuable components of an engineer’s patenting strategy if they are well-prepared, appropriately managed, and diligently followed up with a nonprovisional patent application.
To qualify for a patent, an invention must be both novel and nonobvious. Novelty requires that the invention differ in some way from the prior art, such as earlier patents and published materials. Nonobviousness requires that there be more than just...