Thursday, May 14, 2020
This semester, Liberty University School of Law competed in its first-ever National Patent Drafting Competition hosted by the United States Patent Trademark Office.
Professor Andrew Connors coached two Liberty Law Intellectual Property teams comprised of Jacob East, Stefan Di Nunzio, Hannah Coad, and Luca Di Nunzio.
According to Connors, each team drafted a full patent application, made several technical drawings using advanced drafting software, and also submitted a search result summary. The teams prepared a 20-minute presentation for review by a panel of patent examiners and patent attorneys. Due to the closing of the host school, Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the competition was held as a “virtual event” through the use of WebEx.
“While neither made it to the final three teams, both showed exceptional knowledge, especially considering that patent law is a growing part of our curriculum here,” Connors said. “The USPTO representatives I spoke to wanted to stress how impressed they were with the written submission from the Coad/Di Nunzio team, and that the margin to break round for that team was especially close.”
Connors also noted that the top two teams from our region were from the Franklin Pierce School of Law at the University of New Hampshire, which has one of the top IP programs in the country.
Liberty Law congratulates these hard-working students for their success in this competition.
For more information about Liberty University School of Law or its Intellectual Property Clinic, please visit our website.