Course Information

Materials

Casebook

Craig Allen Nard, The Law of Patents (2nd ed. 2011)

Statutory Supplement

Selected Statutes on Intellectual Property (West 2011) [optional]

Students may wish to buy the statutory supplement from the Bookstore or elsewhere, but can probably use online materials, such as those provided by Cornell:

Title 35, United States Code (Patent): www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/35/

Be sure to have printed the relevant statutory sections for reference during class.

Supplementary Materials

Both the casebook and statutes will be supplemented from time-to-time by supplementary materials, available for download via the class web site. I generally will not distribute the supplements in hard-copy form (i.e., via the law school distribution center); if this causes you a hardship, let me know as soon as possible.

Class Notes

If lecture slides for a particular class session are created, they'll be available on the class web site, almost always before the class session. Find the link in the box for that class session. I typically make lecture slides available in Acrobat (.pdf) format.

Audio Files / Podcasts

All class sessions will be recorded, and the audio and slideshow made available as a video podcast on iTunesU, suitable for downloading and playback on a computer or most recent iPods. There is a link to the iTunesU class podcast on each page of the site, and I will post to the blog when uploading is complete.

Class Meetings

The class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:30 to 11:50 in Gittis 213.

Computers will not be allowed in class.

I expect all class members to attend all classes. We do not formally take attendance, but I defintely notice absences. Repeated absences will negatively impact your class participation score. A seating chart will be used.

Class sessions are typically very interactive. Come to class prepared to talk. Volunteers are appreciated, but we reserve the right to "cold-call" any class member during any class. (No 'passing' allowed.)

Grading

The basic components of the grading plan are as follows:

Final Exam

Details are always subject to change, but I expect this will be primarily multiple choice, but may also have some true / false and perhaps some short answer as well. (Last year's final exam consisted of 60 multiple choice and three short answer questions given in three hours.) I expect it to be open book and open notes. As has been the case in past years, I expect that students will be allowed to use their laptops to access their notes during the exam.

You can download a small set of sample questions (with answers and explanations) by clicking here.

Essays (optional)

Each student may write one essay during the term on a topic of his or her choice (though it must be related to the topic or materials assigned for a particular class session). They are intended to stimulate discussion both in class and on the discussion board. Again, these are optional. Note the following guidelines and rules:

Timing
Essays are due no later than 12:00 noon on the day before the class session to which they most closely relate. That is, if you write your essay on the doctrine of Prosecution History Estoppel (Class 15, November 2nd), then your essay is due by 12:00 noon on November 1st.

Word Length
The word limit for an essay is 3000 words . No exceptions, 'wiggle-room,' etc. on this limit; essays over the word limit will not be graded. There is no minimum length.

Topic
The topic is your choice, but must be directly relevant to the materials assigned in the course. The best Essays will use the class materials as a 'springboard' for additional discussion.

Turning In Essays
To turn in an Essay, you do two things. First, post the essay (just create a new post, copy and paste the text into the post box) on the course weblog: choose a suitably interesting and relevant title/subject for your post. Second, send the post by email (copy and paste into an email message) to the instructor (pwagner@law.upenn.edu) with the following subject line: LAW 677: Essay for [Your Name]. Please do not send your essays in Word files or as other attachments. (Please be sure to use the correct subject line, or your message might get tangled up in my spam filters and be considered 'late'.)

Scoring
Each Essay is read and assigned a score of 0-20 points (with 10 being an outstanding score). Factors considered in grading include:

- quality of the contribution to the discussion

- originality of the essay

- clarity and coherence of the writing

Note that I have no interest in "Bluebooking" formalities. You should note the source materials you've used, using citations where appropriate. Citations should clearly indicate the source material, but don't spend your time agonizing over trivia.

Essays posted/emailed past the deadline (see above) will have their scores reduced by 25 percent.

I have posted a few example essays from recent years here.

Course Participation

All students receive a participation score. I'm looking for consistently insightful participation, not merely rapid observation of the obvious. The best sort of in-class comment is one that adds a different perspective or insight to the discussion. Participation also includes (voluntary) activity on the class blog. Note that past experience suggests a very strong correlation between exam scores (and thus overall grades) and participation.

Overall Scoring

The specifics of the grading scheme will be on a 'choose your own adventure' basis. Class participation is worth 10% of everyone's grade. The optional Essay is worth 25% for those who do it. Thus, the weighting of the final exam will either be 90% (for those without Essays) or 65% (for those with Essays).

You don't have to choose your option until you turn in your essay. And no, you can't 'erase' your essay after you turn it in. Those who turn in their essays by Thanksgiving (November 24th) will have their essay scores prior to the exam.

Overall scores will be computed using the weighting above, and will be distributed (curved) generally following the official law school curve.

Contacting the Instructor

I am always happy to talk about the course—or anything else that you want to discuss; feel free to come by to chat.

My formal office hours for Fall 2011 will be from 1:00pm to 2:00pm on Mondays and 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM on Thursdays. I am often available outside of these times by appointment. My office is Silverman 132.

Reaching me immediately is best accomplished by email (pwagner@law.upenn.edu).
My office phone number is 215.898.4356.