This is a reminder that submissions to try out for the annual National Patent Application Drafting Competition (PDC) team are due on Friday, October 22 at 3pm! We are fortunate to welcome back our coaches from Bereskin & Parr LLP, including 2017 finalists Paul Blizzard & Denver Bandstra! Students on the team will also practice mooting with and receive direct feedback from various B&P associates and partners.
Students interested in trying out for Osgoode’s PADC team must submit answers to our patent drafting skills exercise in a Word document with your name in the file name to iposgoode@osgoode.yorku.ca.
Each member of the team will receive up to 3 credits for participating in the competition. Please note that only 2L and 3L students may participate. Please also note that under Academic Rule 4.3e, students may participate for credit in only one lawyer simulation competition in a given academic year unless they obtain permission from the Director of Mooting and Lawyering Simulations.
About the Patent Drafting Competition
Originally created in 2014 as a midwest competition, the Competition is today a national inter-law school competition designed to introduce law students to issues arising in United States patent law. Participants will have the opportunity to develop their patent prosecution skills by applying legal principles to a hypothetical invention scenario (“Invention Statement”) and appreciating the intricacies of drafting a patent specification and claims that are both patentable and valuable. Each team will complete a search pertaining to the Invention Statement, draft a utility patent application, and defend their decisions before a panel of judges comprising USPTO executives/personnel, patent practitioners, academia and/or special guest judges.
The Competition consists of regional rounds held virtually. The winner of each regional round will compete in the National Finals held at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Competition consists of regional rounds held virtually. The winner of each regional round will compete in the National Finals held at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
Invention statements will be released to teams on November 1, 2021. Team patent applications will be due on January 16, 2022. Regional virtual tryouts will be held on March 5, 2022, followed by the National Finals Competition on April 8, 2022.
Read about the experiences of the students on last year’s team here: https://www.iposgoode.ca/2021/04/2021-uspto-national-patent-application-drafting-competition/
The complete set of rules for this year, can be found here: https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2022_National_Patent_Application_Drafting_Competition_Rules.pdf.
If you have further questions or would like more information, please email Ashley Moniz at amoniz@osgoode.yorku.ca.
We look forward to another great year at the Patent Drafting Competition!