Incorporating Intellectual Property Into Engineering Education

Abstract

Engineering education is not addressing one of the most important areas of the engineering professional: Intellectual Property. Intellectual Property (IP) encompasses the intangible “stuff” which is what engineering is all about – original thought, invention, and progress. The three traditional areas of IP are copyrights, trademarks, and patents. An engineer cannot protect his or her interest, whether it be an invention, expression of idea, or some other non-tangible property, without understanding these three IP areas. Engineering educators should understand that IP has not been incorporated into the discipline. Educators should also note that by the lack of IP instruction, engineering graduates are ignorant as to the protection of their creations. This impacts their futures as they will be entering the creative field of engineering without IP knowledge and may not protect their rights. Of course, this does not help the student or the progression of engineering. This paper, written by a patent agent and patent attorney, both holding doctorate degrees in computer science and electrical engineering, respectively, will introduce the basic concepts of intellectual property and show ways to introduce IP into an engineering curriculum.