Law as an enterprise skill: ‘Intellectual property and projectcommercialisation in engineering

enterprise’

Professor Jim RoachDesign Computing & Engineering

Professor Ruth SoetendorpBournemouth Law SchoolBournemouth University

Behaviours

Attributes

Skills

Developing curriculum across disciplines

Curriculum and syllabus development

• several sources of pressure to keep the curriculum developing, many of which are external to the academic group, including

• Need to compete in the market for home and overseas students

• Government expectations • Regulation & Compliance • Emergence of new

technologies • Employers, industry,

professional bodies and accrediting institutions

• Common strands for lawyers and engineers:

• Management and Strategy

• National and International policy

• Alternative regimes• Ethics

What do students need to know?

• Developing Entrepreneurship requires capability in business, legal, IPR and good engineering or design skills

• What are copyrights, patents, trademarks?

• Where do I find relevant information?

• When do I call in an expert?

• How to communicate with an expert

A Bit of History

• In 1988 Bournemouth University started a BSc in Engineering Business Development, a unique course that integrated Business, Manufacturing, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering.

• The aim was to facilitate the generation of entrepreneurial designers who had an understanding of the commercial and technical issues.

• The lecturing staff were a drawn from a number of departments and Law lecturers presented material on Intellectual Property

Some more History

• One of the first graduates from the course , Phil Brewster designed a “Speaking Microwave Oven for the Blind” which won a Design Council Prize

• Since then we have included Intellectual Property in the curriculum of the following courses– BSc and BA product Design– BSc Computer Aided Product Design– BSc Design Engineering

• This is now taught by a mix of Practicing Engineers and Designers, Financiers and Lawyers

Why is teaching IPR to Engineering and Technology

students important?• Shift in manufacturing and production to low

cost areas.• Change in emphasis in company structure.• Companies increasingly aware of protecting

their assets.• UK Spec 2004 explicitly sets standards of IP

competence and awareness.• Vital for tomorrows engineers and

entrepreneurs

The IPR content

• Within undergraduate programmes this is found in a variety of units such as:

– Professional Design Issues Yr 2 Product Design– Engineering Management Yr 2 Design Engineering

• These units aim to provide students with a knowledge and understanding of the principles and application of the law and how it relates to intellectual property rights, product liability, contracts and product design.

• This is taken further in final year projects

Delivering law beyond the law school - questions?

• Why teach it?

• What constitutes the syllabus?  

• Who should be teaching it?

• When should it be taught?

• How should it be taught?

• Which resources should be available? 

Intellectual Property - law outside the law school

• IPR has its roots in the law, its branches in exploitation

• Licensing• Valuation• Audit• Tax• Financing• Marketing

The Intellectual Property Portfolio

IPRs: Patents*, Planter Breeders rights, reg Designs*, unreg Design Right, RegTrade Marks*; Copyrights, moral rights, Performers Rights, Chip Topographies, Geographical indications*

Quasi IP: Know How, Trade Secrets, Confidential Information, Reputation/Passing off, ProtectingTraditional knowledge and indigenous peoples’ rights

Recognition, Protection, Exploitation, Enforcement

• Recognition Advise client of importance of early recognition e.g. design drawings are © and should be filed appropriately

• Publication before patent filing can destroy novelty• Ensure employees know where to take their innovative ideas

• Protection – understand the relevant procedures to secure the different rights• Put systems in place to manage the IP portfolio: renewals, licences • Decide jurisdictions in which to be protected

• Exploitation where are you intending to trade, or licence: Harmonisation of EU law, TRIPS

• Assignment or Licence decisions – relevance of contract, competition, employment and human rights law

• Enforcement how will you ensure that your intellectual property rights are enforced? How will you respond if you discover your intellectual property rights are being infringed?

Useful web resources

UK Patent Office: www.patent.gov.uk Espacenet: European Patent Office datase

http://gb.espacenet.com/

World Intellectual Property Organisation case studies:http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/case_studies/index.htm

NHS intellectual property guide: http://www.innovations.nhs.uk/pdfs/intehand.pdf

A Canadian Government guide to Licensing : http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inrti-rti.nsf/en/te00336e.html

Methodology at Bournemouth

• Course designers (mainly Engineers) recognised from the outset we needed to include IPR in an already crowded curriculum –and work with the experts!

• The approaches used were– Case study method– Problem solving using the students own

designs– Actually going through the process of filing a

patent for the students own project

A typical example of a student project

Grow your own light!

Pick a stem!

A short activity!

• What ways can the design idea be protected?

• What would be necessary before starting commercialisation talks with a manufacturer?

• What are the choices to commercialise the product?

• How best would the student learn about these issues?

• How could we engage Law students?