Students, universities to benefit from new intellectual property resources

The new resources include a 'Future Innovators Toolkit' (FIT) designed for use in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching; and IP Tutor Plus, which will help university lecturers deliver consistent messaging on IP to their students. An IP Tutor Plus law, business and accounting module is currently available, and modules focussed on creative, humanities and STEM subjects will be published soon.

The IPO recently published an IP for Research package, to help PhD students and researchers to understand the important role that IP will play to protect their research. The IPO's focus on IP awareness at universities follows research published by the Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN) in July 2016, which identified gaps in IP understanding among students and teaching staff, as well as a desire to learn more.

IP expert Louise Fullwood of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the IPO's increased focus on universities and students was "a very good thing to see"; and that she hoped the new resources would be "taken up and actively used by schools, colleges and universities".

"Schools, colleges and universities are inherently involved in the education of IP creators and of users who will be working with IP in their future careers to grow the economy," she said. "These programmes convey the messages that everyone can innovate, creativity has value, ownership should be respected and that innovation and creativity can be linked to financial reward."

"We are seeing a great increase in students starting their own creative businesses during or shortly following school, college or university, and this is a real and practical boost for them in educating them about the tools they need to fully protect their innovation," she said.

Fullwood added that the programmes would not only raise awareness about the value of IP from an early stage in many future entrepreneurs' careers, they would also "help educate against infringing other people's IP".

"Students who carry out activities such as illegal downloading, peer to peer file sharing or use of third party content are at risk of legal consequences," she said. "In contrast, if education takes place in a context of recognition of and respect for the creative works of others, this sends a positive message to students and prepares them for future careers."

IPAN surveyed almost 3,000 students and 250 academics as part of its research project, which it carried out in conjunction with the research arm of the UK's National Union of Students (NUS). The research (96-page / 2.3MB PDF) confirmed anecdotal opinions that knowledge of IP was inconsistent across the higher education sector, but also showed that students were keen to understand more about IP and its implications for them and their future careers.

The IPO said that the publication of its new tools completed its "comprehensive support" for students, lecturers and researchers. FIT would provide STEM teachers with the resources needed to introduce IP at any point in the curriculum including lesson plans, case studies, research scenarios and PowerPoint slides. IP Tutor Plus also includes slides, lecture notes, FAQs, case studies and wider talking points, and will enable lecturers to clearly explain what IP is and how it fits into their students' future careers.