Still think PowerPoint is a trial presentation tool primarily for bullet points and text? Allow me to show you otherwise!
Like a good salad, PowerPoint is all about the ingredients you put into it. Bad ingredients (e.g. text only, bullet points, clip art, poor color choice, etc.) equal bad PowerPoint trial graphics. Good ingredients (e.g. technical illustration, well-designed backgrounds, quality transitions between slides, animation, etc.) equal winning trial graphics.
Since the introduction of the 2003 version, PowerPoint has been a go-to tool for patent litigators in claim construction hearings, tutorials, at the ITC and in patent infringement trials. Out of the box, PowerPoint is simply a blank canvas that allows text, clip art and basic shapes to be combined on a slide. However, in the hands of an information designer at a trial consulting firm, it is a powerful tool indeed. Like a master painter with high quality paints, skill and experience, the blank canvas of PowerPoint can be filled with true works of information art in the hands of a skilled information designer.
The movie below contains four examples of patent infringement trial graphics created by Animators at Law. Three of the four examples were created for jury trials or Markman hearings. One example was built for a §337 ITC hearing. All examples combine technical illustration and PowerPoint animation in a clever way. The examples are:
- A patent litigation PowerPoint animation showing how an MRI image is captured locally and stored remotely.
- An animated patent infringement graphic showing video streaming server technology
- Trial graphics showing the patented process by which adipose derived stem cells are created.
- Trial exhibits for an ITC hearing showing how a ground fault circuit interrupter works.
Although presented in video format here, each of these trial presentations was played directly in PowerPoint. I believe that each of these trial exhibit examples represents the state of the art in patent litigation trial graphics. By using trial exhibits like these in your next patent infringement trial or Section 337 ITC hearing, a patent litigator will be a more effective communicator, will win more cases and will do so on a shorter/more efficient trial schedule.
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