Curriculum
Purpose of the series:
This series of three online courses is tailored to an audience in IP management roles in high-growth technology businesses (HTBs), mainly SMEs. The basic assumption is that the IP management acts as an interface between various divisions of a company.
On the one hand, the IP manager works closely with the company's general management. They need to understand the language of the business and the underlying business concepts to be able to map strategic requirements to IP concepts and vice versa. When explaining IP strategy and IP execution to members of the general management (e.g. the board of the company) messages need to be conveyed using the appropriate language.
On the other hand, the IP manager works closely with the company's innovation (R&D) department. This requires a thorough technical understanding and an understanding of how innovation is managed in the company. The IP manager must convert the strategic IP expectations resulting from business requirements into a language which can be understood by the R&D division, enabling them to implement relevant IP concepts as part of the innovation process. The IP manager also needs to be able to facilitate the conversion of technical concepts into IP assets for the company.
Finally, the IP manager works closely with the company's legal division. Business requirements need to be turned into IP assets and contractual agreements (e.g. licensing agreements). Decisions in infringement cases require legal expertise to apply the right tactics.
In other words, the IP manager is a mediator between these three divisions who understands the language and concepts of each, and who can facilitate the definition and implementation of IP concepts across these divisions, leading to a coherent approach to how IP is handled within the company.
This course attempts to convey the basic language and concepts of each of the three divisions which are essential in order for the IP manager to fulfil this role.
There are three courses:
- IP strategy
- IP management: innovation, evaluation and protection
- IP management: value extraction and commercialisation
