ECE 59500 - Intellectual Property Generation and Management: An Inventor's View

Course Details

Lecture Hours: 3 Credits: 3

Areas of Specialization:

Counts as:

  • EE Elective
  • CMPE Selective - Special Content

Normally Offered:

Each Fall, Spring, Summer

Campus/Online:

On-campus and online

Catalog Description:

This course will provide students with a comprehensive overview of the generation and management of intellectual property. Topics covered include the definition of a patent, an overview of intellectual property law, filing a patent with the USPTO, and various business aspects of managing and enforcing patents. This course is intended for engineering graduate students as well as upper-level engineering undergraduates. It may also be suitable for some students outside of engineering.

Required Text(s):

None.

Recommended Text(s):

None.

Learning Outcomes

A student who successfully fulfills the course requirements will have demonstrated an ability to:

  • Define the term patent
  • List key elements of patent law
  • Describe the process for gaining patent approval and the organizations involved
  • List strategies for enforcing intellectual property
  • Explain the differences between patents, trademarks, and copyrights

Lecture Outline:

Lecture Lecture Topics
1 What is a patent?
2 Introduction to IP law
3 Getting approval for your transaction
4 Characteristics of IP management office/infrastructure
5 How to get approvals from IP management office what should/should not be filed with USPTO
6 Leveraging IP in business
7 Masterpiece or wallpaper? Why some patents are worth millions and others are not
8 The new NDA/CDA policy and what you need to do with it
9 Technical advisory panel role into patents - how do you get an ID filed as a patent
10 Now that you have a patent, live examples of how owning IP can help your business deal
11 What's mine is mine, and yours is mine, too: Dividing up the spoils of joint development
12 Enforcing your patents for fun and profit: The Business Case
13 The other IP: Trademark, copyright, trade dress

Assessment Method:

Quizzes, homework, class participation & discussions (12/2023)