Maine Adult Education

All engineers should be particularly concerned with patent law. This constitutionally-based discipline has to do with the process by which an invention, and its creator, are protected by the law from infringement and unfair competition. The class will deal with patent applications, research and prosecution; the law of infringement, and computer applications of software (protected by copyright) and hardware (by patents). We will also state what other concepts are patented, as well as machines, processes, mixtures, manufacturing, compositions of materials and methods of doing business and research. Not only do we deal with utility patents, but with design and plant patents as well.

Although we are mostly concerned with patent law, we also deal with copyright, trademark, trade dress, trade secrets and business methods. The engineer must be at least conversant with the other forms of intellectual property. In a relatively short time, we will give you a survey of the rights of creative and ingenious people and provide you with the information to protect yourself and your ideas in Intellectual Property matters.

Lesson 1: Introduction to Intellectual Property LawLesson 2: The Business of IPLesson 3: Utility, Design, and Plant PatentsLesson 4: Conducting a Patent SearchLesson 5: The Patent ApplicationLesson 6: Protecting Yourself in IP Matters

At the end of this program, the participants will be able to:

Participants will be expected to spend an average of 8 hours per week reading and completing writing assignments. Please note that, barring extenuating circumstances, extensions will not be granted for this online course. 70% is the minimum passing score on all tests and assignments for this course. Students may consider working ahead in the curriculum if they have the time.