Patents and IP law are highly technical topics, where extensive resources are often spent on expert opinions and advice to help individuals, and companies make sense of the legal landscape.
The teaching of patent processes and IP law are mainly confined to universities and law firms, meaning that a large portion of the global population lacks a basic understanding of how ideas and innovations can be protected and commercialised. The launch of PatSnap Academy aims to bridge this gap and raise the level of knowledge in this area.
More than 700 students and professionals have already preregistered on the platform, which will be continually updated with additional content and courses, and currently hosts more than five hours of video lessons on topics including the following: an introduction to patents, understanding patents and their role, and how to successfully value and commercialise IP.
Users will be given personalised learning profiles to keep track of the topics they have covered and will have access to a simplified IP glossary, which explains in plain terms the main terminology that is encountered in patents.
Users are able to check their accumulated knowledge with a test at the end of each unit and are given the option to request modules on specific areas of interest.
Duncan Clark, head of PatSnap Academy, said: “In 2017, there is estimated to be more than $2 trillion spent on R&D globally. Without the necessary basic understanding of how patents work and how best to use them, a growing number of ideas will never make it to the development stage, let alone make it to market.
“The encouragement of tomorrow’s most innovative minds begins with education and the more confidently they can approach their IP strategy, the more likely we are as a society to benefit from their creativity. Our vision for PatSnap Academy is to strengthen our commitment to open innovation, and enlighten and embolden the next generation of innovators, so that they can be confident in pursuing their new ideas.”
PatSnap has brought together the world’s most comprehensive innovation datasets. By adding licensing and litigation data, economic data, patent valuation, image and chemical formula search, and trademark recognition, PatSnap provides the world’s most innovative organisations with a new, intuitive source of information for use during research, development, and commercialisation.
