Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre

Working with Web pages: These are six web sites that students have found interesting and relatively easy to use. Please let us know of any IPR website that you have found works well for students learning about IPR

UK Intellectual Property Office

An excellent site for basic information about Intellectual Propety Rights: patents, trade marks, designs and copyrights. Because it is designed for users with no IPR knowledge (as well as containing information for IPR practitioners) it is ideal for use by students.

'Confidentiality' information and a sample 'non-disclosure agreement' can be accessed through the 'search' function, or through 'managing your IP' or through the 'Patents' section.

An excellent site for setting out the information needed and the forms required to complete when applying for intellectual property protection in the UK and Europe.

UKIPO's databases of Patents, Trade Marks and Registered Designs are a valuable resource, acccessible via each of the different sections: Patents, Trade Marks, Designs

More detailed information, including legal decisions, will be found from exploring this site.

See also www.ipo.gov.uk/myip.pdf 'My IP" - a starter guide for SMEs

Formative or summative assessment activities

With little or no prior introduction, students can begin to learn about IPR from the UKIPO website. Science/technology/engineering students can locate a patent for a product or process similar to something they are working on, using espacenet quick search

Product or graphic design students can identify the different ways in which a design can be protected

Students of all disciplines can search the trade mark database for marks belonging to different companies.

IP Australia www.iptoolbox.gov.au and Business Link http://tinyurl.com/38484e

How to conduct an IP audit

Intellectual property audit is an important task for any company trading with intellectual property. The IP Australia iptoolbox gives a comprehensive step by step guide to the practical stages in auditting the IPR which a company has generated and which it is using.

Formative or summative assessment activities

Management, business or professional studies students could apply the audit guidelines, and apply them to a company with which they are familiar

World Intellectual Property Organisation www.wipo.org and http://tinyurl.com/ynwsky

The WIPO website is valuable resource of information on substantive global IPRs. International students, and students interested in international trade will find it useful.

WIPO IP Panorama - developed by WIPO and Korean Intellectual Property Office multimedia resource for businesses and entrepreneurs http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/multimedia/

Formative or summative assessment activities

Students can choose one of the SME case studies for discussion and recommendation of good practice

European Patent Office espacenet and espacenet assistant www.espacenet.com and www.european-patent-ffice.org/wbt/espacenet/

Espacenet is the free to use database of patents maintained by the European Patent Office. It is accessible via the UKIPO website, or www.espacenet.com Recently the EPO produced Espacenet Assistant, which is an interactive programme that teaches how the resource works, and prepares searchers to undertake advance patent searches.

Formative or summative assessment activities

Students can work through one more of the espacenet assistant modules, and use information to receive specific patent data

Office of Harmonisation for the Internal Market http://oami.europa.eu/

The OHIM website provides information about the protection of trade marks and designs within Europe.

Formative or summative assessment activities

Students can compare the procedures and costs of registering a design or a trade mark through the UK IPO and through OHIM

Intellectual Property Helpdesk www.ipr-helpdesk.org

A database of European and some international IPR developments in the field of Intellectual Property and Research and Development. Occasional IPR resources for business. Click on InnovAccess for a resource for businesses wanting to find out how and why to protect their IPR in different European countries.

Formative or summative assessment activities

Students can click InnovAccess, click 'what' click 'practical guide' and discover the appropriate IPR for the work they are engaged in.

JISC - Web2Rights www.web2rights.org.uk  and http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2008/12/web2rights.aspx

The site is a key resource for student finding their way to an understanding the of IPR in the virtual world. The varied resources within this site include animation, worksheets and a flowchart to navigate your way around these rights. This site is a key resource for those

Formative or summative assessment activities

Students can watch the video as a starting point for discussions.

Students can use the diagnostic tool to show that they can correctly consider IPR rights within their creative work in the virtual world.