National Patent Application Drafting Competition

Event summary

October 1, 2020

8:00 a.m. ET - 8:00 a.m. ET

Add to Calendar2020-10-01 08:00:002020-10-01 08:00:00National Patent Application Drafting Competition The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) invites your school to participate in the 2021 National Patent Application Drafting Competition. The competition introduces law students to issues arising in U.S. patent law and develops their patent application drafting, amending, and prosecution skills. Competition process Student teams will be given hypothetical invention statements for which they will search the prior art, prepare a specification, draft claims, and present their reasoning for patentability before a panel of judges comprised of patent examiners, practitioners, and high-profile guest judges. The invention statements will be released to the competing teams on November 16, 2020. The regional rounds will be virtual and include up to 15 teams. The winner from each regional round will be invited to compete in the National Final Competition before a panel of senior USPTO officials and other esteemed judges at USPTO Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, in April 2021. Registration open October 1 through November 7, 2020 Teams must register through Eventbrite at: 2021 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office National Patent Drafting Competition. You can also search Eventbrite for event number 118492306679. Competition rules Last modified October 22, 2020 Select this link to download the 2021 National Patent Drafting Competition rules. Questions regarding the rules for the competition process should be sent to the organizing committee at PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov. Upcoming webinars Saturday, October 17 – 2021 National Patent Application Drafting Competition Informational Session Saturday, November 7 – Webinar: Prior Art Search Class Saturday, November 14 – Slides: How to Draft a Claim Saturday, December 12 – Patent Prosecution Boot Camp, Module One Saturday, January 23 – Patent Prosecution Boot Camp, Module Two Saturday, February 6 – Patent Prosecution Boot Camp, Module Three Saturday, February 20 – Patent Prosecution Boot Camp, Module Four Key dates Last modified November 16, 2020 October 1, 2020 – Team registration opens November 7, 2020 – Team registration closes November 23, 2020 – Team invitations and invention statement sent February 8, 2021 – Deadline to submit team patent application March 6, 2021 – Virtual Regional Rounds – Regional Winners announced March 21, 2021 – Deadline to submit National Finals team patent application April 9, 2021 – National Finals competition Results of national finals Please visit the USPTO website for the 2021 finalists and competition results. View the recording of the national round. Regional hosts Detroit: Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional USPTO Dallas: Texas Regional USPTO San Jose: Silicon Valley Regional USPTO Denver: Rocky Mountain Regional USPTO Alexandria: Eastern Regional USPTO America/New_Yorkpublic

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) invites your school to participate in the 2021 National Patent Application Drafting Competition. The competition introduces law students to issues arising in U.S. patent law and develops their patent application drafting, amending, and prosecution skills.

Competition process

Student teams will be given hypothetical invention statements for which they will search the prior art, prepare a specification, draft claims, and present their reasoning for patentability before a panel of judges comprised of patent examiners, practitioners, and high-profile guest judges.

The invention statements will be released to the competing teams on November 16, 2020. The regional rounds will be virtual and include up to 15 teams. The winner from each regional round will be invited to compete in the National Final Competition before a panel of senior USPTO officials and other esteemed judges at USPTO Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, in April 2021.