l.georges online

Question 1 : What is a Patent?

A patent is an intellectual property right, and is only valid in the country where the application was filed.  Patent law varies between countries, and there are many high-profile cases of firms taking others to court for infringement of a patent.  One of the most recent ‘patent wars’ in the news is between Apple and Samsung.
A patent is a technical description of an invention, and must present something novel and non-obvious.  Documents are often drafted and filed long before they are used in a real project or product, and the application process can be long and time-consuming.  A specialist in patent law is consulted to make sure that all risks are covered.

Question 2 : What is the structure of a patent application?

A typical patent will contain
(1) Reference information (authors, dates, numbers…)
(2) an abstract describing the broad outline of the patent (Note that this type of abstract is radically different from that of a typical research article.  Here the authors don’t describe context, but go straight into describing the invention)
(3) any relevant figures and diagrams (all labelled and referred to in 5)
(4) A textual description stating the field of application, the background (explaining the need) and a summary stating point by point the details of the invention
(5) A textual explanation of all figures
(6) A detailed description linking the summary and figures as they relate to the claim (Definition of a claim in this context : the part of a patent (or patent application) that defines in technical terms the scope of protection granted by the patent. The claims are extremely important in case of prosecution or litigation.)

Today’s objective is to give you the tools you need to make an informed decision about how to deal with the illustrations in your chosen article when you prepare your PowerPoint presentation.

You will first see a presentation about data and slides.

Then you will download this article, and in pairs work on either Table III, or Tables IV, V & VI combined.  It will be up to you to decide how best to show the data on a slide, and to choose which parts of the table seem most interesting, and which can be omitted.
Send it to me at the end of the session (export it as a PDF please)

PDF of today’s presentation

Today’s session is devoted to reading your chosen article in detail.  You should make notes, check the words you don’t know and write down anything you think of that might be useful for when you actually do the presentation. (What to put on slides, and words with difficult pronunciation etc.)

In the final session you will also be expected to hand in a written paper (1-2 sides of typed A4) in which you summarize and give a critical opinion of the article you have chosen to present.  The link below will allow you to download two documents about reviewing an article.  The documents are not related to your field, but are nonetheless useful.

howToReviewAPaper

Voici une proposition de traduction de l’abstract:

L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer les techniques de préparation des échantillons de test de béton perméable dans l’optique de produire des échantillons ayant des caractéristiques similaires aux trottoirs en béton perméable déjà posés. Des cylindres et des dalles étaient banchés (coulés) avec du béton perméable provenant de trois différents projets de pavage et produit par trois processus différents. Les comparaisons entre les échantillons coulés et les coeurs des trottoirs étaient basées sur le taux d’infiltration, la densité et la porosité. Parmi/sur les processus de consolidation de cylindres qui ont été testés, le compactage de Proctor a donné la plus faible variation de résultats et produit des caractéristiques proches des trottoirs existants. Cependant, les dalles carrées de 600mm se rapprochaient encore plus de la densité et la porosité des trottoirs déjà en place.

Lien pour télécharger le document sur le traitement après prise (curing)

Context
The first part of this type of case study gives the (historical) background leading up to the project, and then the identification of the need

Defining the need
Usually a single sentence which clearly formulates the raison d’être for the project

Planning & construction
This is the longest section and covers the whole of the period between the original conception and its completion. It describes the steps such as location, delays, problems (and how they were overcome).

Assessment
This section looks back on how the project has functioned since it was finished, detailing the good and bad points.

Answers to today’s questions :

A review article aims to resume the current state of research on a specific topic. The author(s) should provide a coherent view of the topic based on a broad range of (mostly) research articles relevant to that topic. A term that is often used in relation to review articles is “state of the art”.

Ideally, you will find out (1) the names of the main researchers working in a field (2) recent major advances and discoveries that have been made (3) the significant gaps in the research (4) any current debates, and (5) what future directions are possible or probable for research in the field.

The two main common words in this article that have specialised meanings are ‘hydration’ and ‘curing’. See an online dictionary such as dictionary.com or wordreference.com for more information.

Bilingual Dictionary
Dictionary of building and Civil Engineering, Don Montague, 1996 Taylor & Francis e-book : Review copy here