Tools to facilitate IP teaching Patent teaching kit

Tools to facilitate IP teaching: Patent teaching kit and IP curriculum Christoph Bruhn European Patent Academy Prague, 2 December 2009

European Patent Academy • • Institution of the European Patent Organisation Mission to promote and support education and training in patent-related Intellectual Property (IP) Units targeting at – National IP institutions – Industry and business advisors – Professional Representatives – Judges – Universities Unit Academia & IP research

Academia & IP research • • Dissemination of IP knowledge in European universities Activities – Creating IP awareness in universities – Activating initiatives for IP education and building of IP related infrastructures at universities – Supporting IP education activities in universities on a European level – Providing specific patent-related training for academic audiences – Developing teaching material and educational tools

IP teaching for students - motivation • Awareness of IP in their day-to-day environment • Understanding importance and value of IP they create • Understanding opportunities and risks of IP they use and create • Understanding importance and scope of application of IP rights • Knowing how to use patent information • Relevance of IP during studies, research work and in the job

Current situation in universities of most of the European countries • • Limited awareness of IP among students No or insufficient offer of IP education programmes in non-law faculties General recognition of importance of IP among university stakeholders Limited expertise and resources for IP teaching, especially in non-law faculties

Development of teaching material and educational tools Two projects: • As a first step: development of standard teaching material to provide basic knowledge about patent-related IP: Patent Teaching Kit • As a second step: development of a standard modular curriculum for IP teaching, covering broad spectrum of IP-related issues: IP Curriculum General objective: • Standard for use in most of the universities of all European member states

Patent teaching kit - requirements • Self-explanatory teaching material • Targeting at all students in. . . – science & engineering – economics and – law • Basic lecture of 45/90 minutes, extendable to include specific topics • Usable by teachers from the respective faculties, e. g. professors of mechanical engineering, of chemistry, of entrepreneurship, … • Limited preparation time

Self-explanatory teaching material • • Power. Point presentations Presentation notes allocated to each slide • • • Textbook detailed background information allocated to each slide links and sources for further reading material

Slides and allocated presentation notes

Textbook

Textbook

Patent teaching kit - structure Universal, easy-to-understand core teaching kits: • for non-law faculties: – awareness of the opportunities (and risks) of the patent system – practical knowledge on what to do with an invention, how to patent, how to use the patent • for law faculty: – basic features of patent law – post-grant issues Additional teaching modules for specific topics: • Patent information • Understanding patent claims • Case study: patent strategy for exploitation of research results

Core Teaching Kit 1: "Protect your ideas - an introduction for science, engineering and business students" • Introduction to intellectual property rights • Basic facts about patents • Essentials on patent filing • To patent or not to patent? • Patents - source of technical information

Core Teaching Kit 2: "How patents work - an introduction for law students" • Introduction to intellectual property rights • Patentability requirements • Issues of ownership • Disclosure requirement • Infringement and litigation • Commercialising patents

Additional modules • Sub-module A: Searching for patents - how to use patent information • Sub-module B: Understanding patent claims • Sub-module C: Case study: The use of patents by a university spin-off

Train the trainer workshops Non-IPexpert teachers EPA IP-expert teachers Students Implementation

Distribution You can download and order the Patent Teaching Kit free of charge from ww. epo. org/teaching-kit

IP curriculum - goals • Orientation/guide for introducing IP teaching for students in universities • Detailed list of teaching topics and learning objectives • Broad spectrum of IP-related topics of relevance • All levels (pre-graduate/bachelor and post-graduate/master/doctorate) • All faculties, in particular, engineering & sciences; economics & management; law • Standard for use in many universities across the 35 member states of the European Patent Organisation

IP curriculum - requirements • Flexibility for use and adaptation in/to different – universities – faculties – levels of studies • Modular structure, e. g. – Basic modules ("basic/minimum/general" knowledge) – faculty-specific modules – Advanced (specialised in-depth learning) • Composition of tailored IP training courses/programmes (university's/teacher's/student's choice) • Interdisciplinary learning!

IP curriculum - coverage • Broad spectrum of IP rights and other (informal) means of protecting intellectual assets • Relevant areas of IP management • Interfaces with Innovation and R&D management • Aspects of enforcement & litigation • Using patent information

IP curriculum - preparation • Consideration of existing curricula • Compatibility with appropriate existing teaching material • Information per module – target group/motivation – learning objectives – detailed content description – training methods, further readings – orientation for allocation of credits

Status/planning • Development in 2009 • Delivery of IP curriculum end of 2009/early 2010 Next steps • Allocation, adaptation and complementation of (existing) teaching material • Building of teacher network

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