Intellectual property takes many forms: from patents and trademarks to copyrights and trade secrets. Being aware of the different types of intellectual property and how to protect them is an important aspect of your research at the university. When you develop intellectual property, including discovering something new or an improvement of an existing product or process, what do you do? How do you go about protecting your intellectual property, especially your new inventions? This seminar will provide guidance in answering these questions, among others, by addressing, for example, the following items:

• Brief introduction of various types of IPs: patent, trademark, copyright (including software & database), trade secret or know-how, design
• IP protection strategy with respect to different nature of inventions
• Introduction to patents
• Patent filing and prosecution strategies: an international perspective (Provisional filing, PCT filing, EU filing)
• Best time to file a patent application (including impact of public disclosure on patent filing)
• How does patent associate with other types of IPs: trademark, copyright and trade secret?
• How to increase the value of an invention?