What I Learned From IEOR 190G & How I will use it in the Future

Hello Class, this is my final blog post for the semester.  In this post, I will be talking about what I learned from the course as well as how I can use this information in the future.

In particular, the main thing I learned from the course is the patent system as a whole.  I was thoroughly surprised with how much I learned using a collaborative social media method.  From learning about how patents are filed, to what makes a patent novel, Professor Tal was able to have us learn so much in such an effective way. 

In addition, I learned that patent litigation makes up a huge part of large corporations’ expenses.  This was a fact I knew nothing about, and made me really think about the integrity of the many non-practicing entities that “troll” patents. 

I also really learned a lot from the guest speakers, as they provided a great amount of auxiliary information such as insight from their own real world experiences with patents.

In regards to using this information in the future, I now know the variety of difficulties that can arise when filing a patent.  I currently do not know exactly what I plan on doing in the future, and being a non-technical major to me meant that I would most likely not be filing a patent in the career I choose.   However, from learning about the wide variety of patents, I could definitely see myself pursuing more entrepreneurial endeavors in the future.  I also believe that through the creation of multiple YouTube videos, the class as a whole was able to benefit in public speaking.  I believe this will help me later on in interviews and other types of presentations.   

Lastly, because of our contributions and assignments on social media, we now have a database of information about patents that we can always refer back to in the future.  The information we have compiled as a crowd-sourcing unit will be beneficial to all members of the class. 

I learned a lot from this course this semester, and would recommend it to anyone.  It provides you with skills that will go beyond the traditional classroom setting.  I hope you liked my videos and blog posts!

Cheers!

Collaborative Social Medial Learning

Collaborative Social Media Learning

In the class IEOR 190G, our main mode of learning was through a very unique and interesting social media collaboration method.  In the course, we were able to learn valuable information related to patent engineering and patent litigation through our own research that we would share with the class through blogs unique to each individual.

In most classes, the grading structure revolves around different assessments that can often times discourage students from truly learning the material.  This grading structure can also cause students to be very competitive, which in turn can cause students to not collaborate for risk of giving another a slight edge. Professor Lavian not only stressed that learning was the main focus, but he also encouraged us to learn especially from our peers.  Through the use of comments on social media, students were able to give each other extra insight, constructive criticism, and even pure praise.  Crowdsourcing our information through Twitter, YouTube, and blogs allowed for a pool of aggregated information to be easily accessible by all students in the class.

In my personal opinion, collaborative social media learning gave students a fun and relatable way to learn.  Because it was so different than other classrooms, I was intrigued by the assignments and loved that many of our assignments dealt with "silly patents" or interesting TED talks.  In addition, as the semester went on, I began to get more comfortable recording the weekly YouTube videos.  I was able to think more creatively about the Patents, and it allowed me to clarify my blog posts in an all-encompassing way.  Watching other students'
videos allowed me to

In regards to patents, we learned about many things ranging from NPE's, also known as non-practicing entities, or patent trolls.  In addition, we learned about the many nuances and procedural facts that accompany filing, maintaing, and protecting patents.  Obviousness and Anticipation were also very important when explaining patents, as patent validity can be a topic of debate.  Professor Lavian presented us with patents to research that we would crowdsource, this proved to be very entertaining as it allowed us to be exposed to exponentially more cases.



To sum up my experience in the class, I believe I was far more motivated to learn the material in this class than any other, because of the collaborative experience.  The information that the professor wanted us to obtain was achieved through a very unconventional teaching style, and this was especially intriguing.  I would recommend this style of teaching to any classroom, and I really enjoyed the class as a whole!

 

Further Discussion about IP as a Strategic Business Asset

Hello, in this post, I will be continuing my discussion about Intellectual Property as a strategic business asset.  In particular, I will be discussing 5 aspects of IP that give us a good idea of the components of its marketplace.  Let me know what you think!

1. Intellectual Property is marked by the connections between its legal, social, and economic aspects.  It is regulated through corrections of biases and through a variety of solutions to keep the marketplace balanced. 
2. Even if proper organization is in place, IP markets hold several limitations.  It is important to recognize that systems do not solve all complications in the IP sector.
3. Self-organization of the IP market is very important but challenging, and is accomplished through the careful development of secondary institutions and resources to make limitations sustainable. 
4. Intellectual goods should have a transparent owner, participants that act with integrity, an IP value in an open market, and flexibility to support differing forms of innovation. 
5. Community Patent Review is revolutionary in the way that it allows for many experts to examine patent applications rather than a single examiner.  This can be achieved in a cost-efficient way.   

Lecture about IP as a Strategic Business Asset

Hello, today I will be posting about our lecture presentation on April 20^th, 2015 titled: The Role of Intellectual Property as a Strategic Business Asset

I will be listing the 10 aspects that are most important from this lecture, let me know what you guys think! 

1. Consumer Products are assigned intellectual property through copyrights, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks. 
2. A copyright can be defined as an original work of authorship in literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic form.  The protection lasts until the author’s life plus 70 years expires.
3. A trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device that is used in trade to distinguish a good or company.  Protection of a trademark is limited to “first use” of the entity or registering it with the USPTO, and does not expire as long as it is used commercially.
4. A trade secret is information about a business item that is kept confidential due to its economic value.  Protection of a trade secret comes with taking measures to keep the secret confidential, as ownership can be sustained indefinitely as long as it is not publicly disclosed.
5. A patent is a right to exclude others from making, using, or selling products covered by an invention in a defined territory.  A patent must be novel, non-obvious, reduced to practice, and granted validity by the USPTO.  A patent stays valid for 20 years after the filing date.
6. The patent marketplace of course consists of IP creators and IP users; however, the introduction of intermediaries such as non-practicing entities, patent aggregators, market makers, and financial services have flooded the market creating cross licensing complications and patent trolling. 
7. There are four types of Intellectual Property Transactions including licensing IP, selling IP, spinning off an IP, and enforcement or litigation of an IP. 
8. As a strategic business asset, IP can be split up into 3 lifecycles including: Developing IP position, Portfolio commercialization and Monetization, and Portfolio Liquidation. 
9. Failure to properly address IP issues can cause companies or products to lose market share, to endure margin erosion, and to lose market competitiveness. IP strategy determines how successful and profitable the invention will be. 
10. Many entrepreneurs often make the mistake of overprotecting their idea when they would be best served by sharing it with relevant and qualified people who could greatly help with feedback and execution.