Train-the -Trainers Toolkit
- MBTT
- Nov 30, 2022
- 3 min read
The IPEDU project is aimed at introducing education in the field of Intellectual Property through training the teaching, support staff and librarians in IP.Dealing with intellectual property, and specifically industrial property, is of particular interest to university education.
Inventiveness and creativity are features of excellence, which continues to be a priority in tertiary education. To put these features in motion, it is necessary to develop educational and training programs in IP within higher education. Human resources and their level of knowledge and education are, amongst other factors (i.e. legal frameworks, fiscal systems, the state of science and technology etc.), a fundamental prerequisite of creating encouraging IP and supportive environments for innovations. Specifically, fostering a robust IP culture requires a strategic approach that includes the development of dedicated IP courses and the integration of IP topics into various disciplines. Information professionals working in the academic setting could be the ones who will raise awareness of the importance of IP knowledge at their faculties and embed themselves as societal partners in IP education provision. To enable this goal formal and permanent education providers for librarians may offer IP courses and training to existing and future library staff.
The present Toolkit was designed by project partners to fulfill the described aims and to improve institutional capacity of EU higher education organizations in designing, developing and delivering training on intellectual and industrial property for their stakeholders. The Toolkit and the Theoretical Handbook were informed by 2 preceding studies:
A. exploration of the varied landscapes of IP integration within technical and non-technical curricula in all project partners national educational contexts, and
B. investigation of the awareness and attention to industrial property skills and competences of non-lawyers (engineers, scientists, business managers, entrepreneurs) in the labour market of partners’ countries.
These studies informed the structure and content of 4 units of the Toolkit:
Theoretical Handbook
National e-resources from partner countries on IP
Ready-to-use presentations
Lesson plans
Unit 1: The Theoretical Handbook on Intellectual property:
The Handbook is a resource for EU higher education institutions as they design and deliver trainings in IP. It was authored by Tihomir Katulić (Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Croatia), and can be used as an accompanying resource to the TtT (Train-the-trainers Toolkit), covering main theoretical aspects of the complex field of Intellectual Property. Readers of the Handbook are encouraged to share this tool with other members of their organizations, and to reference it as they plan and deliver their own trainings
Unit 2: National e-resources on IP:
This unit of the Toolkit underlines the partnership aspect of the project and presents a structured list of available e-resources with short descriptions and links about IP from each partner country (e.g. links to national laws and regulations, websites of IP offices and agencies, learning resources, study programs etc.
Unit 3: Ready-to-use presentations:
Unit 3 comprises a selected set of presentations delivered within project training sessions by experts in partner countries, or prepared as accompanying learning resources to the curriculum. The presentations give an informative and engaging overview in different areas of Industrial Property, such as Trademarks, Industrial Design, Patents, Geographical Indications, Counterfeiting etc. Users of the Toolkit are encouraged to reference the presentation in case they use it within their own training session on IP.
Unit 4: Lesson plans
Unit 4 comprises lesson plans (showing the learning outcomes, the skills and competences to be developed, teaching methods and a timing guide) which are presented within following modules:
Module 1: Introduction to Intellectual Property
Module 2: Understanding Industrial Property
Module 3: Trademarks and other distinctive signs
Module 4: Geographical Indications
Module 5: Patents
Module 6: Industrial Models
Module 7: Designs
Module 8: International bodies in the field of Intellectual Property
We hope that this toolkit will be a useful resource to teachers, librarians, students, administrators and all stakeholders within higher education across the EU, and that it will contribute to the development of a holistic ecosystem for the Intellectual Property culture to flourish.
The Toolkit materials can be accessed here:
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