Intellectual Property Attorneys have today warmly welcomed the launch of ‘IP Tutor’, a new student learning tool and online guide to intellectual property launched by the UK Intellectual Property Office, after contributing their professional knowledge and expertise to its development.
IP Tutor is an interactive learning tool designed to improve IP knowledge among university students, launched today at a ceremony in Bristol attended by the Minister of Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville-Rolfe.
Trade Mark Attorneys and Chartered Patent Attorneys provided voluntary assistance to the UK IPO, and helped to ensure that IP Tutor gives students not only the legal and formal information on how to protect their ideas, but also the crucial commercial advice and perspective they will need to exploit their output as usefully as possible. IP Tutor is bristling with effective pointers and valuable strategic advice as a result of a collaborative development program run by the IPO, which involved a great deal of detailed input from the Attorney professions as well as numerous academics who teach IP.
Chris McLeod, president of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, commented: “Ideas are now the UK’s leading export. Innovation is the main measure of any promising business, and brands are the foundation of modern consumer protection.
“It is therefore vital that UK students are entirely familiar with what intellectual property is, and how they can best protect their own, both now and in their future careers. Many of the students who will use IP Tutor will work for companies yet to be imagined, perhaps in industries yet to be invented. But if they appreciate from the earliest stage how to create the maximum benefit from their efforts by identifying and then protecting their business ideas, that will only help boost the UK economy in the future.
“We are very proud of the role the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys has played in helping the UK IPO to build this vital tool. Many long hours have been donated by our members to develop this vital educational resource. These efforts are not just an investment in a generation of students, but also in the future health of our trade mark profession – and the reputation of the UK.
“From our perspective ensuring that investments in trade marks and designs continue to be made is very important. Our members regularly find themselves advising companies on some of the most critical elements of their success in the modern business environment. ‘Brand Britain’ is more than a slogan – it is our economic legacy – and this is a step forward in equipping the next generation to expand on that achievement.”