Advanced Course on Patent Information Searching

Course outline: The intention of this advanced distance learning course relating to patent information searching is to introduce you to, and illustrate the concepts, of searching patent information. Some practical hands-on activities are proposed to give you some exposure to patent information and search interfaces that exist at the time of writing the material for this distance learning course.  The search drills and activities aim at providing you with illustrations of some patent information search activities relating to technologies that you can readily identify with.

The course consists of five substantive modules which will be supported by an online tutorial assistance to students.

1. The Value of Patent Information: discusses the main functions of the patent system worldwide, the reasons for performing patent information searches, the value of searches for students, researchers, engineers and business managers and the role that IPOs play;
2. Patent Searching Activities and the Strategic Use of Patent Information: helps the student to identify reasons for performing different types of patent searches, discusses how patent information can be analyzed for strategic use by R&D companies and HR managers, describes the organization of patent documents and how the TRIZ is linked; 
3. Techniques for Searching Patent Documents: focuses on search techniques both without using IPC Codes and with IPC codes only; 
4. Patent Information Search Training: presents search drills to assist the student to develop the basic skills to perform patent information searches with relative precision; 
5. Caution and Risks of Patent Searching: discusses the pitfalls and risks in patent information searching.

Target audience:  The course targets legal practitioners, staff in intellectual property offices and research and development (R&D) institutions, university students with a knowledge of intellectual property (IP). The Search drills and activities aim at providing illustrations of some patent information search activities relating to technologies that people can readily identify with.  It is highly recommended that participants who do not have knowledge in IP take the General Course on IP (DL-101) offered by the WIPO Academy free of charge.

Timeframe: This course involves about 100 hours of study time over a period of 10 weeks. It is offered once a year in English. The launch of the course in French, Portuguese, and Spanish versions will be announced in 2009.

Tutor: The course will be tutored by experts in the field of patent information searching. Each student will be assigned a tutor whose contact details, biography and photo will be found in the student file, starting from the second week of the course after orientation week-1. The tutor will respond only to substantive questions sent by students as well as maintain discussions using the learning management system to which each student will have access starting from the first week of the course until the final exam week.

Mode of communication: All communication regarding course registration, administrative assistance and tutorial support during and after the course are strictly limited to electronic mode of communication (email). Please note that the Distance Learning Section has a dedicated mailbox for this course and physical mail is treated with less priority and will be replied to by email only. Participants are kindly requested to provide a fixed email address for at least one year and keep email boxes clear to receive communication from the Academy.

Exam: The exam for this course is a written exam on which the final grade is determined 100%. The exam should be sent at the end of the course to the assigned tutor with a copy to the course administrator, to be marked by the tutor who is an expert in the field. Final exam grades are sent two weeks after the deadline for the submission of the final exam. The course content will also be provided by PDF to allow students to study off line.

Mode of Study: Students are advised to note the end date of the course which will also mark the launch of the final exam for the course. If they are not able to sit for the final exam after the last week of the course, the Academy recommends that they register for the next session of the course. The Academy does not have re-sitting or extension policy for its final exams. In order to achieve the objectives of the course, it is recommended to read the text of the course, answer the self-assessment questions (SAQs), perform the search drills, and end-of-module tests (EMTs) steadily starting from week -1. As a distance learning (e-learning) course, the relevant reading material is provided to the student on line under each student file. The password and username to access the student file are provided to each student in the first week (orientation week-1) of the course. The Academy encourages students to organize study time at own pace and select the study environment at will. There is no set schedule for this course other than the required steady progress in order to meet the 100 hours of study time during the last two weeks of the course allowing enough time for asking questions and revision in the last week of the course to prepare for the final exam. The tutorial support will end in the last week of the course before the final exam.

Certificate: Successful candidates (50% and above) will receive a WIPO certificate attesting to their successful completion only if the student has provided a correct and fixed address for at least one year. Due to the nature of the worldwide appeal to the Academy’s courses, certificates are sent by registered mail and must be picked up from the local post office. Certificates are sent 6 to 8 weeks after the completion of the grading of the final exam. The Academy accepts inquiries about certificates only after the required time has lapsed due to local mailing practices in different countries and to allow time for certificates to get back to the Academy if addresses have been incorrectly provided.

Fees: List of applicable fees for 2011

 

Course Schedule 2011 (subject to change):

Technical requirements

• A computer connected to the Internet
• Internet Explorer 5 or higher
• Sound card and speakers
• Real Player software
• Adobe Acrobat Reader