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Poster Presentation by Heidi Gauder & Bridget Retzloff University of Dayton, Roesch Library

Using patents to teach that information has value

Patents & Privilege

Patent Session 1

AVIATE Program

ACRL Framework

Introduction

References

Patent Session 2

Teaching Approaches

Issues in Patent History

INDEX

How patent programs fostered discussion of privilege

Introduction

This poster will show how patent history reads as a history of exclusion but also an opportunity to discuss the complexities of patents, research, and innovation.

Dayton Patented mapping activity facilitated a discussion about the lack of representation in patents and why.

Patents have also historically privileged those inventors who are in a position to create and to afford the application fees

Introduction

Two patent workshops explore the value of patents as primary sources beyond STEM.

Connecting the Framework with Patents

ACRL Framework

Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. Legal and socioeconomic interests influence information production and dissemination.

Information Has Value

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Our patent workshops not only sought to introduce students to the patent literature, but, guided by the Frame, Information has Value, also sought to impart an understanding of the commercial value of the ideas in these documents as well as the the understanding that within patent history, gaps exist in terms of opportunities for certain groups to securing patents.

Patents and Framework

A co-curricular program sponsored by Residence Life

AVIATE at the University of Dayton

In 2014, Housing and Residence Life launched AVIATE, A Vision for Integrated, Applied, and Transformative Education. It is the integration of the department’s Residential Curriculum and the Housing Assignments Process for returning students. As students participate in Campus Partner Opportunities aligned with AVIATE, they are awarded PATH credit (Points Accumulated Toward Housing). These points affect their housing selection: the more invested a student is as a member of the residential community via PATH credits, the better their priority is in the Housing Assignments Process.

Patents support the concept of a healthy community, in that they protect and promote innovation. Indeed, one of the basic documents of our society, the U.S. Constitution, inlcudes a patent and copyright clause: "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." In helping students understand the role and value of patents, we are promoting society's ideals and emphasizing the common good.

Community Living

Each PATH-eligible event must align with one of the learning goals in the residential curriculum: authorship, interculturalism, or community living. These patent programs support the community living learning goal.

Residential Curriculum Learning Goals

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Average attendance per Library-sponsored AVIATE event, AY20-21

1,009

Number of PATH points earned by students at Library -sponsored AVIATE events, AY20-21

The numbers here reflect asynchronous online events that were created during the pandemic. In-person sessions are equally popular: for the patent events, 2 of the 3 sessions were filled to capacity.

AVIATE Events are Popular

12,112

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2 sessions: November 2019 and January 2020

Patent Session 1

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Guess the Patent activity: introduction to technical language & illustrations common in patent documents

Students filled in Google form with the newfound patent information, which was used to create a timeline of inventions.

Each student looked up pre-selected patent number in USPTO database to identify patent, inventor, assignee

Session Outline

Brief lecture: Patent history & patent seaching overview

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Students were shown this slide first and encouraged to guess the invention

GUESS THE PATENT

By the end of the session, students had identified relevant patent elements & helped create a timeline

February 2020

Patent Session 2

48 students participated in the event -- maximum room capacity

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Students added pins to Google MyMap with patent information. Discuss results and observations

Students shared results with librarians in exchange for additional inventor information (relevant address).

Each student looked up pre-selected patent number in USPTO database to identify patent, inventor, assignee

Session Outline

Brief lecture: Dayton history & patent overview.

By the end of the session, students had successfully searched for a patent, identified relevant parts, and dropped a pin related to the inventor on a Google MyMap

Mapping Results

Opportunities for further discussion and improvements

Gaps in Patent History

We were particularly struck by the lack of diversity in patent history when researching Dayton inventors. Research has shown that this situation is not unusual and that multiple factors contribute to this absence.

Patent History

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Income Patent Gap

Costs associated with the patent application process likely proved to be a barrier to individuals with little savings. These costs could amount to as much as $100 — roughly one-quarter of average annual non-farm wages in the late 19th century (nowadays, the patent application costs are roughly $10,000).

Race Patent Gap

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Like many of the rights set forth in the Constitution, the patent system didn’t apply for black Americans born into slavery. The 1793 Patent Act included a ‘Patent Oath,’ which required patent applicants to swear to be the ‘original’ inventor of the claimed invention & to their country of citizenship.' The 1857 Dred Scott opinion held that black Americans could not be citizens of the United States; arguably, free blacks could not patent their inventions since they did not have a country of citizenship and presumably could not swear to the Patent Oath.

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Gender Patent Gap

Gaps Exacerbated by Time

Women hold a smaller share of engineering degrees among all holders of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees. Additionally, women hold a smaller share of doctorates. Women are also under-represented in engineering jobs, particularly the patent-intensive electrical and mechanical engineering fields, and in other jobs that involve research & development or design.

How others teach with patents

Teaching Approaches

connections with

Unlike traditional one-shot sessions, these workshops gave us the freedom to explore Framework components more in-depth We were able to explore the role of patents in society: "Patents represent information as a commodity, and their financial value to both inventors and society as a whole should be obvious." Patents also represent a means of staking a claim to an idea. [Zwicky, 10]

"The value of information is manifested in various contexts, including publishing practices, access to information, the commodification of personal information, and intellectual property laws." In particular, these workshops help students with Knowledge Practice #1: understand that intellectual property is a legal and social construct that varies by culture

Workshop Aim #1

Information has Value

connections with

Unlike traditional one-shot sessions, these workshops gave us the freedom to explore Framework components more in-depth We also initiated discussions about who has been excluded from patent opportunities and why there are gaps in patent history

"Experts understand that value may be wielded by powerful interests in ways that marginalize certain voices." In particular, these workshops help students with Knowledge Practice #2: understand how and why some individuals or groups of individuals may be underrepresented or systematically marginalized within the systems that produce and disseminate information

Workshop Aim #2

Information has Value

Research as Inquiry

Introducing patent literature as part of the information environment allows students to see how the patent material compares to that in other sources

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Examining the context & creation of patents as an information source can reveal the complex nature of patents and illustrates the importance of evaluating them critically

Using Google as a tool for finding government information can remove patents from the realm of specialists & academics and couch documents within a familiar resource

Searching as Strategic Exploration

Additional Framework Connections to Patents & Teaching

Patent databases are still databases and there are many search technique similarities between patent sources and article databases that students will recognize

What courses would benefit from patent instruction? What strategies would you use to teach students about patents? When and how might you able to teach more deeply about patent history & the gaps that exist?

Your Turn: How Might You Teach About Patents?

References

  • MacMillan, Don, and Mindy Thuna. "Patents under the microscope: Teaching patent searching to graduate and undergraduate students in the life sciences." Reference services review (2010).
  • Maksin, Melanie. "Of the People, by the People, for the People: Critical Pedagogy and Government Information." In Nicole Pagowsky and Kelly McElroy, eds., Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook, vol. 1. Chicago: ALA, 2016.
  • O'Toole, Jess. "Questioning Authority: Patents and Source Evaluation in an Era of Misinformation." Journal of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association 31, no. 1 (2021): 3.
  • Zwicky, Dave. "Thoughts on patents and information literacy." Journal of the Patent & Trademark Resource Center Association 29, no. 1 (2019).
  • Fechner, Holly, and Matthew S. Shapanka. "Closing diversity gaps in innovation: Gender, race, and income disparities in patenting and commercialization of inventions." Technology & Innovation 19, no. 4 (2018): 727-734.
  • Johnson, Shontavia Jackson. "The Colorblind PatentSystem and Black Inventors." Landslide, Mar.–Apr. 2019.
  • Khan, B. Zorina. “‘Not for ornament’: Patenting activity by nineteenth-century women inventors.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 31, no. 2 (2000): 159-195.
  • Toole, Andrew A., Michelle J. Saksena, Charles A. W. Degrazia, Katherine P. Black, Francesco Lissoni, Ernest Miguelez, & Gianluca Tarasconi. "Progress and Potential: 2020 update on U.S. women inventor-patentees." Office of the Chief Economist, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2020.

REFERENCES

  • Iula Carter 1960 patent: Nursery chair, patent number 2,923,950 https://patents.google.com/patent/US2923950A/
  • Hedy Keisler Markey (Hedy Lamarr) 1942 patent: Secret communication system, patent number 2,292,387 https://patents.google.com/patent/US2292387A/en?oq=US2292387
  • Margaret Andrew 1957 patent: Dish rack for domestic appliance, patent number 2,910,207 https://patents.google.com/patent/US2910207A/
  • Erno Rubik 1983 patent: Spatial logical toy (Rubik's cube), patent number 4,378,116 https://patents.google.com/patent/US4378116A/en?oq=US4378116
  • George de Mestral 1961 patent: Separable fastening device (Velcro), patent number 3009235https://patents.google.com/patent/US3009235A/en?oq=US3009235

PATENTS

hgauder1@udayton.edubretzloff1@udayton.edu

THANKS!

Heidi Gauder & Bridget Retzloff