Title: Promoting intellectual property education for engineers in China

Authors: Vincent Raës; Pei-Luen Patrick Rau; Xiang Ji; Cuiling Chen

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Tsinghua University, Shunde Building 525, Beijing, China ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Tsinghua University, Shunde Building 525, Beijing, China ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Tsinghua University, Shunde Building 525, Beijing, China ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Tsinghua University, Shunde Building 525, Beijing, China

Abstract: Chinese government has been inserting a great force to enhance innovation abilities especially in intellectual property rights (IPR) learning in Chinese universities and companies. This paper examines the inherent relationship between engineers and intellectual property in Chinese background and discusses how to integrate a marginal element like IP into a graduate engineer curriculum without hindering any existing core curriculum elements. Surveys and interviews have been conducted to analyse the perception and understanding of IPR in China. Results showed that students recognise the need and importance of IP in engineering and IP lessons will increase the level of this recognition. And students prefer to learn IP by case studies and conference. Therefore an IP instruction module has been developed in the IE department of Tsinghua University and a second survey has been launched to examine the effects. At last a website has been developed to help the IP learning.

Keywords: intellectual property rights; IPR; intellectual property education; engineering education; China; higher education; innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2016.075177

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2016 Vol.8 No.1, pp.57 - 69

Received: 27 Jun 2014
Accepted: 11 Apr 2015
Published online: 06 Mar 2016 *

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