Entrepreneurship and innovation programs at U.S. universities with the highest enrollment are finding new ways to expose students to IP rights

NEW YORK, NY, USA, September 6, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- The largest Entrepreneurship and Innovation Undergraduate (E&I) Programs at U.S. universities are beginning to understand the role they can play in making intellectual property a part of students’ business education.

Programs at the top ten U.S. schools with the largest enrollment, a total of more than 489,000 students, are beginning to recognize the importance of basic IP knowledge for future business leaders, but more still needs to be done..

These and other findings are part of a newly-released research report that looks at the curricula and business plan competitions offered at the leading schools compiled by the non-profit Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU). ‘Assessing Intellectual Property Engagement', the seventh in a CIPU series or summary reports, looks at the role of IP at the ten largest undergraduate E&I programs as reported in U.S. News & World Report.

Entrepreneurship is closely tied to intellectual property rights, which can attract venture capital to increase business operations or grow revenues. These universities and the E&I programs they offer often serve as a proving ground for the career aspirations of a great portion of America’s young adults.

“Understanding the level of IP engagement among students enrolled at these schools provides insight into ways to increase support for the nation’s would be entrepreneurs,” the report finds. CIPU employed a broad definition of “IP engagement” that presumes at least an introduction to patent, trademark or trade secret matters through E&I coursework or extracurricular programming. This conclusion is reinforced by interviews conducted by CIPU with E&I program directors and students, both of which report students applying for IP rights on products developed through E&I programs as well as conversations on IP matters at entrepreneurial mentoring sessions, business pitch competitions and more.

IP’s Role in Success

The 31-page research report shows that while universities with strong engineering schools tend to have a series of entrepreneurship centers and innovation programming, such initiatives are more successful in terms of student career outcomes when an interdisciplinary environment is fostered.

“A university’s high innovation ranking does not always equate with a strong entrepreneurial culture that encourages students to protect the fruits of their creative labors.”

Strong undergraduate entrepreneurship programs have a few defining characteristics. They typically feature a central hub facility connecting students to business resources and mentorship. These centers tend to host at least one business pitch competition during the school year that challenges undergraduates to develop new business ideas that could give rise to IP rights. Each of these 10 universities offer at least a minor concentration in entrepreneurship, although the coursework for those concentrations appear to focus very little on IP-related topics.

In terms of potential takeaways for improving student engagement with intellectual property, one seemingly simple way to achieve such an outcome would involve rethinking part of the model of business pitch competitions being hosted by university entrepreneurship centers.

“Although cash prizes help to reinforce the competitive nature of these activities,” the report finds, “a better approach could incorporate some form of resources for patent, trademark or copyright filings that could be accessed by all contestants by the close of the competition.“

Student Responses

“People took us a lot more seriously and our efforts were a lot better understood and valued because we had taken the initiative to develop IP rights on the invention,” reported a University of Texas, Austin, student about the medical device startup he founded.

“My idea of patents was very limited going into college,” a graduate of Ohio State’s Integrated Business and Entrepreneurship program told CIPU researchers. “My exposure [to IP rights] during my undergraduate studies helped me slowly pick up the skill of how to navigate that world.”

Externally funded models of student entrepreneurship programming afford great flexibility that allows students to interact with corporate IP in novel ways. Of particular note is the OnRamp program at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business. Operating without the constraints of university policies requiring new innovations to be assigned to the school, undergraduates engaged in Tech Push activities gain practical experience in corporate IP commercialization.

A program generating a lot of positive feedback from entrepreneurship center directors and staff interviewed for this report was the Blackstone LaunchPad network, “the signature program of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, [that] seeks to close the opportunity gap by equipping college and university students with the entrepreneurial skills they to need to build lasting careers.”

Blackstone LaunchPad offers students fellowships, cash prize competitions and mentorship.

Tap here for the full report, ‘Assessing Intellectual Property Engagement at the Largest U.S. University Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programs.’

The Center for Intellectual Property Understanding is an independent nonprofit established in 2016 that raises awareness about the impact of IP on people, business and society. CIPU provides outreach to improve IP literacy and promote sharing. It holds events, such as the annual IP Awareness Summit^®, curates IPBasics.org, an information portal, and produces ‘Understanding IP Matters,’ a podcast series, now in its second season. UIPM enables successful creators and entrepreneurs to share their IP story. For more information, visit understandingip.org.

Bruce Berman
The Center for IP Understanding
+1 917-225-6184
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