THINK kit®: Educating tomorrow's innovators

Disseminating information about patents and other intellectual property rights to the public is an important role for patent offices around the world, and a number have targeted the education sector. In renewed efforts to ensure that tomorrow's innovators are better aware of the potential influence of many aspects of IP, a new initiative by the UK Patent Office, the THINK kit®, is described in this article. This is primarily aimed at 14-16 year olds, especially those taking courses linking design, technology and business. The kit provides the materials and guidance needed by both school students and their teachers, using case studies of well-known products and brands. In practical use the information contained within the pack has also proved to be of benefit to a much wider audience as the materials have been scaled up and down dependent on the recipients. Business start ups and would be entrepreneurs, in particular, have found the contents very useful as the case study approach provides practical guidance on the commercial reality of IPR.