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The United States Patent System: An Essential Role in Engineering Design Education

The patent system has long been a neglected tool in the education of American engineers. Four propositions are presented which support the notion that an understanding of patents should be an integral part of the education of every engineer who practices in the United States. The essay lays a philosophical and historical foundation explaining the role of the patent system in a competitive free‐market society, and how it influences the behavior of those who seek to innovate. An upper‐level design course offered at The George Washington University, which heavily utilizes the patent literature and provides a foundation for understanding the role of patents in American industry, is discussed in detail. Ethical dilemmas facing engineers in the heat of competition are analyzed in the course, and the essay discusses some of these. This essay concludes with a discussion of why the role of patents in engineering education should increase in the twenty‐first century.