TOPTEAM’s Attorney Provides Patent Search and Drafting skill Training Sessions for Graduate Students in NCKU 

TOPTEAM has recently worked with the Biomedical Engineering department of the National Cheng Kung University in two workshops focused on patent search strategy and patent claim drafting. The techniques shared and ideas discussed during the workshops are particularly useful for researchers to better understand the value of their research in terms of patenting new ideas.   Each workshop, delivered as part of a graduate school course “Innovative Medical Device Patent and Regulatory Strategy management”, includes a 3 hour lecture and a following 3 hour group exercise session. 

More than half of participants are graduate students from overseas including Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong. Some of them are medical professionals and most of the rest have a degrees in biology, biomedical, engineering, or a combined discipline of the preceding studies.  

The first workshop was held on March 31, 2020 and led by one of our patent attorneys, Henry Lin. Mr. Lin started with an overview of patent application process, from an inventive concept; invention disclosure preparation; patent application preparation and filing; examination at the Patent office prior to patent grant. The rules to patent inventions in most countries are similar but with some variation in requirements.  

In the early stage of patent application preparation, prior art searches enable【researchers/inventors】to find patent documents of relevant inventions and weight on the value of further applications accordingly. What is more, using an patent classification system as a search tool can greatly filter out useless search results. Mr. Lin put a focus on the International Patent Classification (IPC), the most common used system and prepared hands on exercises for participants to get familiar with the classification rules. 

The subject of the next workshop on April 14 was patent claim drafting. Mr. Lin elaborated what makes a good claim for both defensive and offensive purposes by reviewing typical patent documents with the class and preparing invention disclosure samples designed for group exercise. Since the content covered in the workshops will be included in the midterm exam of the course. Mr. Lin will also help to assess students’ submissions for the part. 

Mr. Lin has joined TOPTEAM since 2017. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical mechanical engineering from National Taiwan University and his master’s degree in material science and engineering from the Texas A&M University. He specializes in patent searching, drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the fields of mechanical engineering, display technologies, and semiconductor materials.