The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) invites law students and students studying patent law to participate in the 2023 National Patent Application Drafting Competition. The competition introduces students to issues arising in U.S. patent law and develops their patent application drafting, amending, and prosecution skills.
Competition process
Student teams will receive hypothetical invention statements for which they will search the prior art, prepare a specification, draft claims, and present their reasoning for patentability before a panel of judges comprised of patent examiners, practitioners, and high-profile guest judges.
The invention statement will be released to the competing teams in early November 2022. The virtual regional rounds will be held on March 4, 2023, and include up to 15 teams. The winner from each regional round will be invited to compete in the National Finals held on April 14, 2023, before a panel of senior USPTO officials and other esteemed judges.
Registration is open October 1 through October 31, 2022
First, the team's coach must register individually and include the school's name. Once they complete their registration, the team is assigned a specific team registration link that is emailed to the coach. The team's coach must then provide that team's registration link to the student competitors in order to complete the registration for the entire team. Each competitor and coach will have a unique login to the competition webpage.
Looking to join but don't have a coach? Students unable to identify a coach should reach out to the organizing committee who will assist the team to identify a suitable coach. If necessary, the requirement that the coach be affiliated with the team members’ law school will be waived. Such requests should be made as soon as practicable and must be made no later than the registration closing date via email to PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov.
Competition and registration information
All competition information and the registration link can be found at:
2023 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office National Patent Drafting Competition.
Regional hosts
- Detroit, MI: Midwest Regional Office
- Dallas, TX: Texas Regional Office
- San Jose, CA: Silicon Valley Regional Office
- Denver, CO: Rocky Mountain Regional Office
- Alexandria, VA: Eastern Regional Outreach Office
Direct any questions regarding the competition process to the organizing committee at PatentDraftingCompetition@uspto.gov.