Class experience

I appreciated the course because it allowed me to learn not only in class, with Professor Lavian or a guest speaker, but also when searching for online articles to incorporate into my blog or on Youtube and when reading or watching my classmates' works. I liked that the course was interactive. I also liked that it allowed me to freely express myself in a published medium.

I liked that the course avoided discussing legal details that we were likely to forget, like the specifics of the US Code. Instead, it focused on important patent concepts, like novel/obvious or the structure of claims, which would be useful to know if I applied for a patent in the future. I appreciated the focus on smartphone patents because I can relate to them both as a smartphone user and as an engineer.

I was glad that the course emphasized a few, core ideas, including patent trolls, obviousness, and smartphone patents. It allowed for much more depth when I explored these ideas in more detail on my blog posts or Youtube videos. I also was able to look at these ideas from different angles. For example, though I dislike patent trolls, I was able to understand the fine differences between non-practicing entities and patent assertion entities, and judge for myself whether my preconceived notions about patent ethics were reasonable. I liked that I could sympathize with a university non-practicing entity while better understanding why I am so negative towards patent trolls. In short, the focus on a few ideas let me understand them in more detail and from more points of view.

My favorite aspect of the class was the balance between engineering, law, and ethics. We would talk about a technology like cellular towers, then segue to case law on obviousness, and then try to understand these concepts rationally.

Thanks for a great course!