Patent Competition Team: Patent Trial and Appeal Board

This high-level course offers students a practical taste of advocacy before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), introducing students to the ever-changing procedures of post-grant proceedings through a simulated inter partes review (IPR) fact pattern. Students will learn how practitioners frame novelty and obviousness theories, use expert declarations to build a record, navigate institution and discretionary-denial considerations, and prepare concise, Board-focused arguments. By the end, students will have a general understanding of PTAB proceedings and the skills necessary for effective advocacy before the Board.