Abstract:

Years ago an experiment was done in a higher education institution by integrating patent based case studies into an engineering course. In order to adequately explain the patents that are being studied, the students were introduced into the patent concepts, different parts of the patent documents and the techno-legal language of the patents. Which started as an unambitious, almost accidental experiment has generated great interest from the students.

Puzzled by the happy but unexpected results of the experiment, the author has spent some time analyzing the results. Armed with the results of the analyses, the experiment was repeated again after some time, but this time in a more structured way and with a clearly defined goal of increasing innovation and entrepreneurship among the students as well as serving the requirements of the course being taught.

The result was a phenomenal success, which resulted in bunch of students with boosted confidence and many patentable projects. Encouraged by the results the experiment was expanded into different courses.

After ten years of tinkering with the approach, testing with different courses, with different levels of students, we have developed a firm idea of where this type of educational enhancement fits, and what kind of students it benefits most.

In our regular courses we teach our students “know-how” of the technology but have difficulty teaching “know-why”. “Know-why” is the reason why we do certain things in a certain way and many experts consider “know-why” information to be crucial for getting a well-rounded education. Patent documents are an excellent source for teaching “know-why” to the students.

It is observed that the students who received patent enhanced education are well equipped for addressing the needs of the industry. Searching patent databases, drafting patent documents, developing patents is a category of actions that suit best to the academia. Having students’ educated in these respects, having academicians who are well versed in these issues may be an excellent way of starting collaboration between university and the industry.

The paper will give the details of the experiment, the conclusions drawn after tinkering with the approach for ten years and how the experiment can be repeated in other higher educational institutions.

Keywords:

Patent enhanced education, intellectual property, know-how, know-why, scaffolding.