A Primer on Patents

Patents are often opaque and confusing for everyone except patent attorneys. Engineers and scientists are nevertheless encouraged to pursue patents and warned to avoid patent infringement. Policy makers continue to debate about whether the United States’ approach to patents fosters innovation. Companies like Google have paid billions for patent portfolios of their competitors. Congress recently passed new patent legislation. Manny Schecter will present an overview of how patents are created, what makes for strong patents, and why they exist in the first place.