The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) invites your school to participate in the 2022 National Patent Application Drafting Competition. The competition introduces law 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 statements will be released to the competing teams in early November 2021. The virtual regional rounds will be held on March 5, 2022 and include up to 15 teams. The winner from each regional round will be invited to compete in the National Finals before a panel of senior USPTO officials and other esteemed judges on April 8, 2022.
Registration is open October 1 through October 31, 2021
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.
PLEASE NOTE: 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 is 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:
2022 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office National Patent Drafting Competition.
Competition informational session
Saturday, October 16 – 2022 National Patent Application Drafting Competition Informational Session.
Register at 2022 NPADC Informational Session.
2021 competition results
2021 National Patent Application Drafting Competition webpage.
Visit the USPTO website for the 2021 finalists and competition results.
View the recording of the National Finals.
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.