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Peer Review

Patents, Copyrights, and the Law of Intellectual Property (MIT)

Reviewed:

Jun 30, 2018 by Business
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.8 stars
Content Quality: 5.0 stars
Effectiveness: 4.8 stars
Ease of Use: 4.8 stars
Overview:

This course is an intensive introduction to the U.S. law of intellectual property with major emphasis on patents, including what can be patented, the process of patent application, and the remedies for patent infringement. Assignments include research and applications of the course material. This is an undergraduate course.

Type of Material:

Online Course

Recommended Uses:

This material can be used in several formats.  The outline and syllabus are complete for self-study, homework assignments, and class reports by individuals or teams and the overall impact should promote strong class discussion.  It is more effective than a lecture as students search for the information themselves.

It can be used to supplement an existing course or to develop a course and for homework, individual assignments, team assignments and can serve as the foundation for lectures.

Technical Requirements:

This review was conducted with Adobe Flash Player version 24, Adobe Reader version 15, Java 8, update 121, and Firefox 50.1.0.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

There was no specific learning goal identified in the syllabus or on the course homepage; however, there is an overview, a course calendar complete with topics, assignments and course materials are readily available to download. The overview provides general information to set course expectations.

Target Student Population:

College General Ed, business classes, entrepreneurs, inventors, innovators

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

While no special skills or background are required, the material would be best used by those having an interest in patenting because of a business, entrepreneurial project or invention.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

  • This material raises the general questions a person has, or should have, when intending to market a product. 
  • It includes relevant case studies for each question and an analysis of court decisions to determine if the patent laws were applied appropriately.
  • It is split into three parts - the segmentation makes the key topics easy to follow.
  • Links to numerous legal cases are provided, along with YouTube videos, different documents including excerpts from government and court documents and article links are provided.
  • Short exercises require analysis and preliminary patent search to assess the validity of a patent claim is part of the course.
Concerns:

There are no concerns with the material.  It is, however, very specific and would not be needed by everyone in general education.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The variety of course material provides a rich environment to learn about legal procedures, patents, copyrights and related processes.
  • Readings and assignments integrate to explain what happens and why, and then assignments are applications.
  • This material employs engagement by the students as the major learning tool.  That ensures not only depth of learning, but also retention. 
  • It effectively allows students to self-prepare for class discussions and tests.
Concerns:

  • The syllabus calls for a courtroom visit to a current patent trial; although this would be excellent, it’s likely not applicable for most. 
  • This reviewer would recommend developing objectives for the course because it's difficult to determine how effective the course might be if there are no learning outcomes noted.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

  • This material is straightforward
  • Clearly described
  • Easily accessed
Concerns:

  • This was developed in 2013 and there may likely be new cases and documents as well as updates to documents that may be available
  • The variety of materials and the integration of copyright, patent, and legal processes provide a significant amount of information for an entry-level course.
Other Issues and Comments:

I have no other issues and find the material excellent for a specific topic of patent law within a course.

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