CSE 391
Final Project
Your project should demonstrate a thorough understanding of one patent. You should select a patent that is of some interest to you. It can
either be a patent on a current issue (e.g., spam reduction) or one of some historical significance (e.g., ENIAC computer). It can also be
a pending patent if its description on peertopatent is complete enough.
The major part of your project will be the class presentation. You should plan for a 30 minute presentation, which includes a presentation
of approximately 25 minutes and 5 minutes for questions and answers.
Expectations
Your presentation and set of slides should demonstrate the following:
- A brief introductory summary of the patent that includes its useful purpose.
- An understanding of the technology surrounding the patent, specifically the state of the art at the time of the patent application. Specifically,
you should thoroughly understand the prior art referenced in the patent, and be able to describe why each of the claims in your patent represents
a conceptual leap from the prior art (i.e., not obvious to a developer with ordinary skills).
- An understanding of the implications of the patent. For example, there should be comments or demonstrations of the patent in use by commercial
companies (actual or potential). Specifically, you should be able to explain why the patent is more than a mere idea.
- An understanding of related patents, and how the subject patent can be distinguished from related patents.
- An understanding of the importance of the claims of the patent.
- If you choose a non-U.S. patent, you should be prepared to discuss similar U.S. patents.
Schedule
The project consists of a set of deliverable items, listed below, culminating with your presentation in class.
| Date |
Deliverable |
| 3/13 |
E-mail me the information identifying the patent you will analyze (patent number and title is sufficient). You should also identify your
partner in the project (if any). |
| 3/23 |
Send me a brief (1 page) MS Word or PDF document that describes the importance of the patent. Mention the commercial use of the patent
and licensing arrangements. Alternatively, you can detail why the patent has not been commercialized. For example, the patent might have
been too specific and was overcome by a later patent. |
| 4/13 |
Send me a PowerPoint file that shows the slides you intend to use. The slides may not be complete, but they should demonstrate the structure
of your presentation. Most of the slides should include the major points that relate to that slide topic. |
| 4/20 |
Send me the near-final PowerPoint file you will use in your presentation. |
| 4/29-5/6 |
Class presentation |
Hints
- Be sure that your slides and presentation satisfy the expectations listed above.
- You can search for the patent you will use in your project in a variety of places.
The first place to start might be the
US Patent and Trademark office.
However, you may find that the Google patent search site (Beta) has a better user interface.
The organization of the Google site is very logical, giving you easy access to the abstract, claims, and filing information. In addition,
it nicely links to citations and provides easy access to the drawings and pdf of the original patent. The Google site, however, may not contain
all the patents relating to your search. You might find that the WIPO site is more
comprehensive since it includes international patents.
- You will notice that the drawings in the patents are not very sophisticated. You should be able to communicate many aspects of the patent
in your PowerPoint slides using graphs that are much more illustrative.
- Most presenters plan on about 1 minute per slide, so you should plan on about 25 slides in your presentation.
- You should find the USPTO
background information on patents to be very useful in understanding the material in your patent.
- To make sure you effectively communicate the information about your project, you should create very professional PowerPoint slides. The
TLT department at Stony Brook offers classes on PowerPoint, so I suggest you enroll in one of the sessions if you are not a skilled user
of PowerPoint. You can get more information on the
TLT Web site.