Publications for Schools: Inventions and Patents

Inventions and Patents [PDF] is the first publication in WIPO's new Learn from the Past, Create the Future series, created for school children as future innovators. It responds to the demand from Member States for practical and detailed curriculum materials on IP, suitable for use in classrooms around the world.

Combining fun with facts, and packed with illustrations, the publication takes its young readers on a colorful journey through the world of inventions and patents. Simple explanations of how patents work, why we need them, and how they contribute to scientific and technological progress, are interspersed with the stories behind successful inventions. Inventor Profiles are drawn from around the world, and teachers are encouraged to supplement these by getting their students to research inventions from their home country.

Teaching IP theory through practice

Geared towards students from 8 to 13 years old, the publication takes the form of a self-contained work-book, which can be photocopied for classroom use. It teaches theory through practice, and IP concepts through case-studies. To play the PCT Detective game, for example, students learn to search patent applications in WIPO's online PCT database.

Much of the material can be integrated into science classes. Teachers can build on the information provided by discussing with students the scientific principles behind some of the featured inventions, such as the combination of concave and convex lenses in the telescope, or the laws of thermodynamics in the Nigerian "pot-in-pot" cooling system.

Inventions and Patents debunks the fictional stereotypes of inventors as wild-eyed, wild haired professors, and encourages students to recognize in themselves the essential qualities of curiosity, creativity and perseverance which enable individuals to invent. It concludes with a roadmap for invention, taking students through the whole innovation process from idea, to IP protection, to commercialization.