Northeastern Law Team Takes First Place at USPTO Regional Competition

A Northeastern Law team comprised of Yuxiang Chen ’23, Erin Gannon ’23, John Mosley ’22, and Simone Yhap ’22 placed first at the Eastern Regional Round of the 2022 National Patent Application Drafting Competition, a United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) event that allows students to develop patent prosecution skills. 

Northeastern Law Team Takes First Place at USPTO Regional Competition

Left to Right: Yuxiang Chen ’23, Erin Gannon ’23, John Mosley ’22 and Simone Yhap ’22

04.08.22 — A Northeastern Law team comprised of Yuxiang Chen ’23, Erin Gannon ’23, John Mosley ’22 and Simone Yhap ’22 placed first at the Eastern Regional Round of the 2022 National Patent Application Drafting Competition, a United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) event that allows students to develop patent prosecution skills. This is the second year that Northeastern fielded a team for the competition.

Created in 2014, the National Patent Application Drafting Competition (NPADC) is a team competition that introduces law students to US patent laws and regulations, and helps them develop patent application drafting skills. The competition provides participants an opportunity to develop patent prosecution skills by applying legal principles to a hypothetical invention scenario. Student teams receive hypothetical invention statements for which they will search the prior art, prepare a specification, draft claims, and present and defend their reasoning for patentability before a panel of judges comprised of patent examiners, practitioners and high-profile guest judges. The competition consists of five regional rounds held virtually and a National Finals Round.

The Northeastern team placed first out of eight teams in the Eastern Regional Round on March 5, 2022, and has been invited as one of the final five teams to participate in the national round on April 8, 2022, a virtual event that will be live-streamed. The team’s coaches include John Lanza ’95 and Chethan Srinivasa ’11 with assistance from Daniel Tesler ’14. In addition to providing insight into last year’s competition, former participants Evan Jones ’21 and Ana Teixeira ’21 served as guest judges for the team’s numerous mock presentations as did Matthew Ambros ’07 and James De Vellis ’03.

“We are so excited to advance to the National Round! Our win at the Eastern Regional Round would not have been possible if not for hard work, team synergy and our coaches,” said the team in a statement.

About Northeastern University School of Law

The nation’s leader in experiential legal education since 1968, Northeastern University School of Law offers the longest-running, most extensive experience-based legal education program in the country. Northeastern guarantees its students unparalleled practical legal work experiences through its signature Cooperative Legal Education Program. More than 1,000 employers worldwide in a wide range of legal, government, nonprofit and business organizations participate in the program. With a focus on social justice and innovation, Northeastern University School of Law blends theory and practice, providing students with a unique set of skills and experiences to successfully practice law.

For more information, contact d.feldman@northeastern.edu.