Course Description

The goal of this course is to teach you all aspects of patents, technology rights, brands, and other intangible assets that are an increasingly important part of the modern economy. We will cover the state-of-the-art on the creation and maintenance of intangible assets, transfer and monetization of intangible assets in various types of transactions, and strategies for profiting from intangible assets.

This course will also cover the act of innovating, how people can become better innovators, and protection strategies involving patents and other technology rights.

This course is believed to be unique in how it combines two fields: innovating and protection of intangible assets. We will cover innovation processes that are designed to generate and monetize inventions that are patentable (“ownable”) as well as commercially valuable. When inventions are ownable, they can be licensed more widely and are less susceptible to copying by competitors.

Open to students in all majors, we cover a range of topics that will give you a competitive advantage regardless of your field, and whether you're operating by yourself, in a startup, or leading a team in a large company.

Instructor

Dean Alderucci (alderucci@cmu.edu)

Office hours by appointment

Prerequisites

There are no formal prerequisites for this course. In class we will briefly cover material that you will need for some parts of the course, all of it at a very basic level: probability, decision making under uncertainty, and competitive analysis.

Grading

Final grades are based on

• four homework assignments (50%)

• midterm exam (30%)

• final project (20%)

Grading specifics depend on whether you're registered for 9 or 12 units:

• 19-473 (9 units)

You may either:

Do any three of the four homeworks (each worth 16 2/3 % of your final grade),

OR

Do all four homeworks and have your lowest-graded homework count for extra credit (up to 4% added to your final grade)

For your final project you are required to submit only a field analysis study, not the other portions of the project. You may optionally submit the full final project required for the 12 unit course and receive extra credit (up to 4% added to your final grade). The final project must be done alone.

• 19-673 (12 units)

Each of the four homeworks is worth 12.5% of your final grade

You must do the full final project (field analysis study, portions of a draft patent application, and competitive analysis). You may do the final project either alone or with one other team member.

Homeworks

Each homework is given much more time than should be necessary to complete it so that you have flexibility in case of unexpected disruptions in your schedule. Nevertheless you should begin homeworks as early as possible to minimize the chance that you miss a homework deadline.

In addition, each student is granted five late days to use over the homeworks. There are no restrictions on how you use your late days - for example, all five could be used on one homework. Using late days will not affect your grade. However, homeworks submitted late after all late days have been used will receive no credit. Please be careful!

Exam

There will be one in-class midterm exam consisting of multiple choice questions and very short essay questions. The midterm will be open book and open notes, and will generally cover all material presented prior to the midterm. Detailed information on the midterm exam, including its format and particular topics covered, will be provided well before the exam date.

There is no final exam.

Project

The final project consists of a field analysis study, and if registered for 12 units, portions of a draft patent application and a competitive analysis. You may do the final project alone or with one other team member if you're registered for 12 units.

A goal of the project is to give you significant experience with a valuable but uncommon set of skills. It is hoped that these skills give you an advantage in your career and set you apart from other job applicants.

Additional information on the project, including detailed requirements and grading criteria, will be provided in the first few weeks of the course.

Readings

All required and optional reading material for this course consists of lecture notes and freely available articles and case studies.

If anyone is interested in exploring any topic in greater detail, I will be happy to suggest additional optional readings.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability and have an accommodations letter from the Disability Resources office, I encourage you to discuss your accommodations and needs with me as early in the semester as possible. I will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate. If you suspect that you may have a disability and would benefit from accommodations but are not yet registered with the Office of Disability Resources, I encourage you to contact them at access@andrew.cmu.edu.

Miscellaneous

Please feel very free to ask me questions anytime during and outside of class. Please do not hesitate to do so if there is anything I can do to improve the course for you.

You are encouraged to discuss the course topics with classmates. However, each student must complete their assignments alone and without copying any of the work from anyone else. Collaboration on an assignment is allowed only on the final project.

Please see Canvas for the class schedule, readings, and assignments.