Information needs and practices in teaching and using industrial property for nonlawyers in Slovenia

Abstract

Introduction. The paper presents some findings of the Erasmus+ project IPEDU, which aims to include intellectual property education, more specifically industrial property, in the curriculum of technical universities, through training the teaching, support staff and librarians. We present selected results of the first two project stages for Slovenia, which is one of the project partners.

Methods. Initial stages of the project assess the current level of inclusion of industrial property topics into higher education curricula and labour market needs. Samples include Slovenian technical sciences faculties, and employers of technical profiles with needs for industrial property knowledge. Online surveys are used for data collection.

Results. General, not positive, alignment was found in terms of expected competencies: Companies do not place high priorities on industrial property competencies of their non-law employees. Furthermore, many higher education institutions do not include these topics in their teaching. Industrial property teaching is needed, but not done, which implies the need for educators-employers dialogue. A relatively traditional image of libraries emerges, as they are usually not involved in teaching. This provides an excellent opportunity for libraries to evolve and become more proactive.

Conclusions. Our findings offer a valuable contribution to the planning of a systematic and holistic intellectual property curriculum for technical studies within the European Union.