Thomas Edison's patent application for an "Improvement in Electric Lamps," November 1, 1879. (Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration.)
Dr. Robert Rines
6.901 / 3.172 / 16.652
Fall 2005
Undergraduate
This course features a downloadable textbook on inventions and patents, Create or Perish, in the readings section. The textbook was written by the course instructor, Dr. Robert Rines, who has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
This course explores the history of private and public rights in scientific discoveries and applied engineering, leading to the development of worldwide patent systems. The classes of invention protectable under the patent laws of the U.S., including the procedures in protecting inventions in the Patent Office and the courts will be examined. A review of past cases involving inventions and patents in:
Periodic joint real-time class sessions and discussions by video-audio Internet conferencing, with other universities will also be conducted.
Robert Rines. 6.901 Inventions and Patents, Fall 2005. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
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