USPTO PDCRules

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2021 National Patent Application

Drafting Competition rules

Welcome to the 2021 United States Patent and Trademark Office National Patent
Application Drafting Competition (“Competition”). Originally created in 2014 as a

midwest competition, the Competition is today a national inter-law school competition

designed to introduce law students to issues arising in United States patent law.

Participants will have the opportunity to develop their patent prosecution skills by

applying legal principles to a hypothetical invention scenario (“Invention Statement”)
and appreciating the intricacies of drafting a patent specification and claims that are

both patentable and valuable. Each team will complete a search pertaining to the

Invention Statement, draft a utility patent application, and defend their decisions before
a panel of judges comprising USPTO executives/personnel, patent practitioners,
academia and/or special guest judges.

The Competition consists of regional rounds held virtually. The winner of each regional
round will compete in person 1 in the National Finals held at the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO) headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

There is no entry fee for the Competition. All eligible teams are encouraged to enter.

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Subject to change

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Key dates

The following table presents all key dates for the Competition. All dates referred to in
these rules are specified in this table. Each team is responsible to ensure that all deadlines
are satisfied.

Date

Description

Term

XX

Team registration opens

“Registration
Opening Date”

XX 11:59 PM
ET2

Team registration closes

“Registration
Closing Date”

XX

-Team invitations sent
-Waitlisted team (if any) notified

“Invitations Date”

XX

Invention Statement, competition materials, and
grading rubric sent to competing teams

“Materials Release Date”

TBD

Workshop–How to Draft a Patent Application
(optional)

“Drafting
Workshop Date”

TBD

Workshop–How to Search for Prior Art (optional)

“Search Workshop Date”

XX 11:59 PM
ET2

Team patent application due

“Application Due Date”

XX

Regional rounds presentation schedule emailed

“Regional Rounds
Schedule Notification
Date”

XX

Regional rounds dry-run (optional)

“Dry Run Date”

XX

Virtual regional rounds

“Regional Rounds Date”

XX

-Highest scoring team from each regional round

“National Finals

accepts invitation to the National Finals

Invitation Date”

-National Finals prior art reference(s)
sent to all participating teams
XX 11:59 PM
ET2

National Finals team patent application due

“National Finals
Application Due Date”

XX

National Finals competition occurs

“National Finals Date”

Table 1: Deadlines
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Refers to the time the submission is received by the Organizing Committee.

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General rules
Revision date – October 22, 2020
Organizing Committee
1. The Competition is organized and headed by an organizing committee (“Organizing
Committee”).

2. The Organizing Committee may, at its sole discretion, amend or add to these rules of
the Competition (“Rules”) at any time. In the event of a rule change, adequate notice
shall be given simultaneously to all registered teams, via email to each team’s

designated coach or administrator. Any question or interpretation of these Rules
should be addressed to the Organizing Committee via email at

PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov. Decisions of the Organizing Committee

shall be final and are not subject to any form of appeal.

3. Communications from the Organizing Committee to the teams (or from the teams
to the Organizing Committee) shall be made exclusively through the teams’
identified coach(es) or administrator(s) (see rules 7 and 9).

4. The Organizing Committee may, at its sole discretion, disqualify a team if it finds
that there has been a serious violation of these Rules, or in the event of other
behavior that is considered contrary to the spirit of the Competition.
Eligibility
5. The Competition is open to students who are enrolled, on a full-time or part-time
basis, in any law school class, provided that:

(a) the student has not been admitted or licensed to practice law in any
jurisdiction;

(b) the student, if a registered patent practitioner (i.e. a patent agent), must
have a patent registration number issued on or after January 1, 2018;

(c) the student is/was enrolled at the institution during the 2020-21 academic
year; and

(d) the student is not a currently paid employee of the USPTO.
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6. Each applicant to the Competition is required to declare in their application that they
are eligible to compete under rule 5. Anyone found by the Organizing Committee to
have misrepresented his or her eligibility will be subject to disqualification from the
Competition.

7. A team consists of a minimum of two members and a maximum of four members,

represented by a team coach or administrator. Each member of each team must be
from the same school, each eligible under rule 5. The team coach or administrator

must be affiliated with the team’s law school. A maximum of two coach(es) or

administrator(s) may represent a team. The same team must represent the same
school at each phase of the Competition, including but not limited to search,

preparation of the written patent application, and appearance(s) at the regional and

national rounds of the Competition.

Team members unable to identify a coach or administrator to represent the team

may petition the Organizing Committee who will assist the petitioning team in an

attempt to identify a team coach or administrator. Petitions must be filed before the
Registration Closing Date (see Table 1) with the team’s registration application via
email at PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov.

8. All work products, including but not limited to search for prior art, patent

application draft, and oral presentations must be created and written by the

students. Coaches or administrators may not make any substantive contribution to
created work products or presentation materials, nor contribute or participate

during the oral presentation(s).

Registration
9. Each team must register through an EventBrite event titled “2021 U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office National Patent Drafting Competition.” A complete application
must identify at least two student teammates and at least one coach or

administrator affiliated with the team’s law school. Each team shall communicate to
the Organizing Committee through its designated coach or administrator (see rule
3).

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10. A team is deemed to have applied for the Competition when a completed

EventBrite order form has been submitted and an email confirmation has been

sent to the designated coach or administrator. Applications will be accepted until
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the Registration Closing Date (see Table 1).

11. The Competition is limited to a maximum of 60 teams nationwide. Registration is

open on the Registration Opening Date (see Table 1) on a first-come, first-served

basis. Should maximum registration be reached, teams may still register, but will be
waitlisted.

12. Except as allowed in rule 14, a law school may only be represented by one team,

defined as the first team to submit a complete application for registration. Additional
teams from the same school may apply for registration and be waitlisted until
registration closes on the Registration Closing Date (see Table 1).

13. The Organizing Committee will review applications and communicate invitations,

via email, to those teams accepted and entered for the Competition no later than
the Invitations Date (see Table 1). Each team invitation will comprise the team’s
unique anonymous identifier, which must be used in all future submissions.

14. Waitlisted teams (if any), upon application review, will be notified of their entry into
the Competition (if admitted) no later than the Invitations Date (see Table 1).
Priority shall be given to law schools on the waitlist which do not have a team
already accepted into the Competition.

15. Accepted teams will receive an email containing attachments to the Invention

Statement, associated materials, and a grading rubric no later than the Materials

Release Date (see Table 1).

16. Upon acceptance of their registration by the Organizing Committee, each team

must submit all documentation in good time to meet the deadlines set out in these
Rules (see Table 1). Late submission of any documents may be subject to penalty
points or lead to disqualification from the Competition.

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17. If qualified for the National Finals, each team shall be responsible for paying their
own meal and accommodation costs. Arrangements for discounted rates at local

hotels may be made available and specific details regarding accommodation options
will be released separately as the date of the National Finals approaches. Teams are

entirely responsible for their own travel costs and arrangements, including any visa
arrangements for team members coming from out of the country. The Organizing

Committee can provide letters of invitation to help with visa applications, but teams
are fully responsible for requesting these in good time to meet the appropriate

deadlines set forth in Table 1.

18. Should a member of a team have to individually withdraw from the Competition, the
remaining team members may choose to continue in the Competition (if the team

originally comprised three or four competitors) or withdraw from the Competition.

The team coach or administrator shall immediately notify the Organizing Committee
of the individual withdrawal and the team decision of whether or not to withdraw

the entire team from the Competition. Based on a showing of good cause, a team

may petition the Organizing Committee to replace/substitute a team member.

Petitions for replacement or substitution shall promptly be made via email to the

Organizing Committee at PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov.

Regional rounds–format and rules
19. No later than the Materials Release Date (see Table 1), all properly

registered teams will simultaneously receive, via email to the designated
coach or administrator, the Invention Statement comprising a brief

description of the invention and a drawing(s). Additional instructions for the

preparation of the patent application and/or its support documents may
accompany the Invention Statement.

20. Regional rounds include a written phase and an oral presentation. A written patent
application, along its supporting documents, shall be submitted prior to and

adjudicated along with the team’s oral presentation (as discussed below) by a panel
of judges selected by the Organizing Committee from patent practitioners, USPTO

personnel, academia, and/or special guest judges.

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21. For purposes of the regional rounds, registered teams will randomly be divided into
five regional groups (Groups A-E) for oral presentations on the Regional Rounds
Date (see Table 1). Each team will be notified via email of their oral presentation

time no later than the Regional Rounds Schedule Notification Date (see Table 1).
The Organizing Committee shall take into consideration each participating team’s
respective time zone when scheduling the oral presentations.

22. Utilizing the provided grading rubric, the highest scoring team from each of the five
regional groups shall qualify for the National Finals competition on the National
Finals Date (see Table 1). Each highest scoring team shall be notified of their

qualification to the National Finals no later than the National Finals Invitation Date
(see Table 1).

23. To aid each registered team, the USPTO has organized two virtual workshops to aid
in the preparation of the written phase: (a) “How to Draft a Patent Application” and
(b) “How to Search for Prior Art” (see Table 1). Attendance is optional. Further

information will be sent to the registered teams prior to the Drafting Workshop
Date (see Table 1) and the Search Workshop Date (see Table 1). No makeup

sessions are presently planned.

24. By participating in the regional rounds, individuals are accepting that such

appearances and presentations may be used, published, video recorded, and/or

live streamed over the internet.
Written phase

25. Each team will complete a patent application and other documentation, as described
below, which must be received by the Organizing Committee no later than 11:59

p.m. ET on Application Due Date (see Table 1) (emphasis added). Submissions shall

be submitted via email as an electronic attachment and in .pdf format to

PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov. Other formats, such as .doc or .docx, will

not be accepted. No alterations to the submitted patent application or other

submitted materials are permitted after this Application Due Date (see Table 1).

Within their patent application, teams must identify themselves only by use of their

anonymous identifier given to them in advance in their invitation by the Organizing
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Committee.
26. Each student on the team must complete a declaration supporting eligibility and
confirming authorship of the application.

27. Each team must prepare and submit a complete utility patent application
pertaining to the Invention Statement in accordance with these Rules.

a. Each patent application submission must be formatted in accordance with
all applicable U.S. laws, rules, and USPTO guidelines (including those in
the MPEP, www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/index.html).

b. Each patent application shall include the following components:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Abstract,

Field of the Invention,

Background,
Drawings,

Summary of the Invention, and
Claims.

c. The patent application may not exceed eight pages single-sided, excluding the
drawings and claims.

d. The claim set is limited to a maximum of 10 claims, with up to three independent
claims. No multiple dependent claims are allowed.

e. Each team must submit an Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) listing relevant
prior art discovered in their prior art search. The IDS must list only the top five

most relevant references.

28. The scope of the written phase is not limited to the text of the patent application.

Each team must prepare a short summary for the panel of judges. This summary

must include the rationale(s) supporting the patent drafting strategy used by the

team and may set out relevant authorities that have influenced the team’s patent
drafting strategy. The summary must not exceed two pages.

29. A complete and timely submission shall be submitted as electronic

attachment(s) to PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov, in .pdf format, by
the Application Due Date (see Table 1) and include:
(a) Declaration from each team member;
(b) Short Summary;

(c) Patent Application; and
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(d) IDS.

30. The Organizing Committee will acknowledge receipt of all team submissions via
email to the designated coach or administrator.

31. A team’s patent application will not be circulated to other teams or the public. Each
submission will be treated as confidential to the team that wrote it, and (unless

permission is obtained) access will be limited to the Organizing Committee and the
judges.

32. Each patent application and summary will be reviewed by assigned judges prior to
the oral presentation.

33. A registered team’s failure to submit a complete submission, as outlined in rules 2529 above, by the Application Due Date shall be treated as a withdrawal from the
Competition.

Oral presentation
34. Teams that have successfully completed the written phase will participate in virtual
regional rounds for oral presentation on the Regional Rounds Date (see Table 1).

35. Each presentation will be judged by a panel of judges comprising patent
practitioners, USPTO personnel, academia, and/or special guest judges.

36. Each team may utilize a computer to use with their presentation, if the use of slides
or other visual presentation is desired. No later than the Regional Rounds

Schedule Notification Date (see Table 1), each team will be notified via email of
their presentation time and will be given instructions on how to virtually present
their oral argument on the Regional Rounds Date (see Table 1).

37. Each team shall have a maximum of 20 minutes for their oral presentation. The
presentation should focus on claim drafting strategy and patentability.

38. Judges may interrupt the presentation to ask questions and/or make comments at

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their discretion.

39. The judges will score each team based on their written submission and oral

presentation at the Competition. Scoring will be based on the criteria set forth in
the grading rubric included with the Invention Statement and competition
materials.

40. During oral presentation, each team will be notified by a clerk when they have two
minutes remaining and when the team’s presentation time has expired. Teams
must not continue speaking after the expiration of time.

41. Students shall not communicate with anyone, other than their fellow teammates,

coach(es) or administrator(s), the panel of judges, and the clerk. While still active in

the competition, teams may not observe other teams’ presentations, nor send
observers or scouts to observe another team’s presentation.

42. Based on the scores from the written phase and the oral presentation, the highest
scoring team from each of the five regional groups shall qualify for the National

Finals competition on the National Finals Date (see Table 1). Judges’ scores are

deemed final and not subject to review or appeal.

43. Each team shall be responsible to ensure that their technical equipment, including

but not limited to computer and internet connection, is fully functional at the time of
their oral presentation. The Organizing Committee shall not be responsible for any
technical issues. To reduce the likelihood of technical difficulties on the Regional

Rounds Date (see Table 1), an optional dry-run has been scheduled by the

Organizing Committee on the Dry-Run Date (see Table 1). Interested teams should

email the Organizing Committee no later than 24 hours prior to the Dry-Run Date
(see Table 1) to request a dry-run with the technical team.

National round-format and rules
The highest scoring team in each group of the regional rounds will receive an invitation
to compete, against the highest scoring teams in the other groups of the regional

rounds, in the National Finals no later than the National Finals Invitation Date (see
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Table 1). The National Finals will be held at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria,

Virginia on the National Finals Date (see Table 1). A second-place team may receive an

invitation in the event that the highest scoring team is unable to attend.

44. Each team in the National Finals will consist of the same team members who
participated the regional round.

45. With the National Finals invitation, the participating teams will receive a prior art
document that may or may not have been uncovered during their initial search.

Additional instructions may accompany the prior art document.

46. In light of the supplemental documents provided with the National Finals invitation,
the teams may amend their claim(s). Teams must follow MPEP rules for claim

amendments. Furthermore, no new matter may be added. Teams must submit

either the original claim(s) or amended claim(s), which must be received by the

Organizing Committee no later than the National Finals Application Due Date
(see Table 1) (emphasis added).

47. Submissions shall be submitted via email as an electronic attachment and in .pdf

format to PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov. Other formats, such as .doc

or .docx, will not be accepted. No alterations to the submitted patent application or

other submitted materials are permitted after the National Finals Application Due
Date (see Table 1). Within their submission, teams must identify themselves only by
use of the anonymous identifier given to them in advance in their invitation by the
Organizing Committee.

48. The claims, along with an oral team presentation, will be judged by a panel of judges
selected from USPTO executives/personnel, patent practitioners, academia and/or
special guest judges.

49. Each team will have a maximum of 30 minutes for their presentation, including

questions from the judges throughout the presentation. The presentation should
focus on claim drafting strategy and patentability.

50. The judges will score each team based on their written claim(s) and oral presentation
during the National Finals. Scoring will be based on the criteria discussed in this

document. The first, second, and third place teams will receive awards. Teams that

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do not advance to this round may attend these presentations, but may not offer
advice, comment, coaching, etc. to teams remaining in the Competition. Judges’
scores are deemed final and not subject to review or appeal.

51. During the oral presentations, time will be kept by a clerk, who will indicate to each
team when they have two minutes remaining and when the team’s presentation

time has expired. Teams must not continue speaking after the expiration of time

without first gaining the permission of the panel of judges.

52. Students shall not communicate with anyone, other than their fellow teammates,

coach(es) or administrator(s), the panel of judges, and the clerk. Notes may not be

shared, other than between teammates. While still active in the competition, teams

may not observe other teams’ presentations, nor send observers or scouts to observe
another team’s presentation.

53. By participating in the National Finals oral presentation, individuals are accepting

that such appearances and presentations may be used, published, video recorded,
and/or live streamed over the internet.

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Specific scoring guidelines
Note: The Competition shall take place under U.S. law, including all relevant laws
and rules pertaining to formatting of utility patent applications, novelty,
obviousness and claim construction.

Searching–15 points
Each team will complete a novelty search pertaining to the technology of the

Invention Statement. Teams are permitted to complete their search using any
resources available to them or the public, including any online databases.

Each team will present an explanation of their search strategy and results during the oral

presentation portions of the Competition. Scoring will be based on the following criteria:
•

How well has the team compiled necessary keywords in order to cover the main
elements and/or aspects of the proposed invention?

•

What search queries did the team use? Did the team use a combination of
keywords, classification, Boolean operators, etc.?

•

Did the team search international patent databases? If so, using what
methodology?

•

Did the team search relevant non-patent literature (NPL), and if so, what was the
search strategy?

•

What were the most relevant pieces of prior art located, and why are they
relevant?

Each team must present their search strategy and results to the panel of judges. Teams
will be awarded points based on the above-referenced criteria, as well as the overall
quality and creativity of their presentation.

To aid each registered team, the USPTO has organized an optional virtual workshop

“How to Search for Prior Art” for registered teams. An email link will be sent prior to the
Search Workshop Date (see Table 1) for all interested teams. No makeup sessions are

presently planned.

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Claim drafting–40 points
Each team must prepare a set of claims for the regional round and, if qualified, for the
National Finals round. Each team must present their claim drafting strategy to the

panel(s) of judges. Claims must be drafted in light of the prior art found during the

search, taking into account considerations of novelty and obviousness, as well as other
relevant claim drafting rules (including, without limitation, 35 U.S.C. §§ 101, 102, 103,

and 112). Teams are permitted to draft their claims using any patent application

drafting software program they wish, so long as the claims are submitted in .pdf
format.

Scoring will be based on the following criteria:
•

How has the team identified the essential elements of the independent claim(s)?
The judges’ scoring grids will include some key elements of the Invention

Statement that must be identified in the claims, but teams will receive points
based on their approach and creativity.
•

What elements has the team chosen to claim dependently? Judges will have a list

of elements that should be claimed. Teams will be awarded points based not only
on whether these elements are identified (i.e. a checklist of elements), but also on

the creativity of their approach to claiming.

•

Does the team avoid including any unnecessary limitations in their claims,
especially in the independent claim(s)?

•

Have all of the elements been correctly identified and supported in the
description (see discussion of description below)?

•

How has the team maximized value through considerations of
damages, detectability, and possible infringers?

The claims must be limited to a maximum of 10 claims, with up to three independent
claims, and no multiple dependent claims. A significant portion of the scoring points
are awarded for quality of the claims and the rationale provided for the selected
approach to claiming.

Each team must present their claims and claiming strategy to the panel(s) of judges.
Teams will be awarded points based on the above-referenced criteria, as well as the
overall quality and creativity of their presentation. Each team must explain how the
claims were drafted, and elements chosen, in light of their search results. The oral

presentation is the opportunity for the team to explain its claim drafting rationale, in
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light of their search results, as well as overall strategic reasoning, taking into

consideration such issues as prosecution concerns and gaining the best protection for
their client.

Detailed description and labeled illustrations–15 points
Each team must draft the specification to meet all relevant legal requirements,
including but not limited to providing support for the claims and enabling the
invention.

Teams are permitted to draft their specification using any program they wish, so long
as the specification is submitted in .pdf format.
Points will be awarded on the following criteria:
•

Have the claims been fully supported in the detailed description and the
illustrations?

•
•

Has the invention been fully enabled in the specification?

Has the application been written to avoid including any unnecessarily limiting
language throughout the description?

Each team must present their overall specification drafting strategy to the panel(s) of
judges. Points will be awarded based on the above-referenced criteria, as well as the
overall quality and creativity of their presentation. If necessary, students should

reference their rationale for claiming strategy in light of their strategy for preparing the
detailed description and labelled illustrations.

To aid each registered team, the USPTO has organized an optional virtual workshop

“How to Draft a Patent Application” for registered teams. An email link will be sent prior
to the Drafting Workshop Date (see Table 1) for all interested teams. No makeup

sessions are presently planned.

Presentation–30 points
Teams can use any presentation software of their choosing, including PowerPoint, Prezi,
etc. A significant portion of the scoring will be based on the team’s presentation skills

and how clearly and competently they can explain their search strategy, search results,
and relevance to the panel of judges.

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