Intellectual Property for Engineers
  • Type Learning
  • Level Foundational
  • Time Hours
  • Cost Free

Intellectual Property for Engineers

Issued by Penn State College of Engineering

The products engineers design, make, and sell are subject to legal and regulatory obligations, from intellectual property and antitrust laws to environmental and safety regulations. Badge holders can (1) describe at an introductory level the different ways ideas are protected, including patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and trademarks; (2) identify the key elements of a patent; and (3) provide basic arguments for why a new invention does or does not violate an existing patent.

  • Type Learning
  • Level Foundational
  • Time Hours
  • Cost Free

Skills

Earning Criteria

  • Actively participate in a live, interactive workshop (roughly 4 hours in total) facilitated by regulatory legal expert Brian Pandya (Partner, Duane Morris LLP; former Deputy Associate Attorney General at the US Department of Justice).
  • Review and discuss key elements of an engineering-relevant patent including its title, inventors, priority date, relevant diagrams, and specifics of the invention being patented.
  • Pass at 80% or above multiple choice questions related to defining and distinguishing patents, copyright, trade secrets, and trademarks. When given an existing patent, make at least one argument for why a similar invention does not violate it.