This spring, we partnered with VentureWell to conduct focus groups on university-based intellectual property education and policy. The goal of the study was to explore the perspectives of faculty and students, including what participants see as the greatest needs in regard to improving IP education and facilitating student invention and innovation on their respective campuses.
Following three focus group conversations, the findings highlighted key opportunities to strengthen campus IP support ecosystems for our entrepreneurial students, including:
1) Integrating IP education more comprehensively in curriculum.
- Intentional educational opportunities through guest speaker events, one-on-one coaching, and cross-disciplinary team work.
2) Strengthening communication and connection on campus.
- Forging clear pathways between departments so that stakeholders can speak one another’s language on behalf of students.
3) Centralizing resources that prepare students to navigate the registration process, and structure IP policy to mutually benefit the university and students.
- Creating necessary resource hubs that connect students to administrative representatives, patent attorneys, librarians and alumni.
We look forward to releasing additional findings from the study soon, and to building upon these efforts in our mission to advance IP education.
The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property, an initiative of the Michelson 20MM Foundation, addresses critical gaps in intellectual property education to empower the next generation of inventors. Michelson 20MM was founded thanks to the generous support of renowned spinal surgeon Dr. Gary K. Michelson and Alya Michelson. To learn more, visit 20mm.org.