Intellectual Property Education Is Empowerment

Dr. Frederic Bertley and Dr. Sara Leikin
COSI

“Intellectual property (IP) pretty much drives everything from aerospace to computer science to agriculture to fashion. IP is all around us and it is the backbone of our economy,” says Dr. Frederic Bertley, President & CEO at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI). Intellectual property plays a role in almost everyone’s life, but it is seldom taught to people – especially to young K-12 learners. Dr. Bertley and his colleague, Dr. Sara Leikin, Senior Director of National & International STEAM Partnerships at COSI, are hoping to change that, especially as invention education rises in popularity in schools across the country.

As leaders at COSI, a science center in Columbus, Ohio, Dr. Bertley and Dr. Leikin are committed to offering inclusive and accessible education regarding science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM), and industry topics. After over five decades of leading the charge for accessible STEAM education throughout Central Ohio communities, COSI now also teaches what comes after bringing ideas to life – protecting those ideas. Through COSI, Dr. Bertley and Dr. Leikin have been working on leading conversations around innovation education and intellectual property education. 

Dr. Bertley and Dr. Leikin’s motivation to increase accessibility for intellectual property education is driven by their passion for supporting the next generation of inventors, innovators, critical thinkers, scientists, and artists. “We want young people to see the possibilities of their ideas, which means we also have a responsibility to help them protect those ideas,” explains Dr. Leikin. COSI offers opportunities for young students to create and showcase their ideas through programming with partners like the Ohio Invention League Invention Convention and the International Science and Engineering Fair. When students began to showcase their inventions more frequently, the team at COSI realized that such opportunities also opened students up to being taken advantage of. Whenever students displayed their ideas and invention prototypes, there was potential for an adult with more resources to steal a student’s idea and manufacture and sell the invention without the student’s knowledge or consent. Through gaining intellectual property education at COSI, students could continue to utilize COSI’s platforms to share their ideas with the added security of IP protections. Dr. Leikin admits that not all student inventors have a concrete plan for their future, but by having resources to protect the ideas they have at a young age, the students have more possibilities to explore in their futures. “To be able to have an education for them, to talk to them, and give them resources to protect that idea – so that they have agency over their ideas if they want to pursue them in the future – is really critical,” says Dr. Leikin.

Dr. Bertley and Dr. Leikin believe that museums and other out-of-school programs may be valuable avenues for sharing intellectual property education with young people. “One of the cool things we do – the “sweet spot” of science museums if you will – is to take things that traditionally may seem complex or difficult to understand and to make them accessible, interesting, and engaging,” explains Dr. Bertley. According to Dr. Bertley, museums – especially museums, like COSI that cater to all ages – aim to distill complex concepts into available, interesting, and engaging information. “We make things accessible in a way that connects to YOU. What’s your story? What’s your narrative? What’s the construct or analogy that makes sense in YOUR world and will get you to understand [a complex idea]?” Out-of-school programs, like the ones offered at COSI, can take an abstract and multifaceted subject, like intellectual property, and connect it to what is relevant to a community or individual. Dr. Bertley and Dr. Leikin recognize that many in-school educators may not have the time or bandwidth to create these individualized connections to make intellectual property easier to understand. Further, educators may not be able to add any intellectual property education into their lessons while trying to stay on track with curriculum requirements. Out-of-school programming can support and supplement the curriculum that is already being offered in classroom settings by adding on additional topics like intellectual property, invention, and innovation that teachers may not be able to cover. Out-of-school programs can also provide students with more opportunities to meet with guest experts who may not be available during school hours and to access resources that their school or community may not have at their disposal. “‘Out-of-school’ is where we live and play,” explains Dr. Bertley, “It’s so much easier to connect people to why intellectual property, invention, and discovery are important when students are outside of a school environment and can easily be in an open and creative headspace.”

To provide IP education resources to K-12 students, Dr. Bertley developed the Extracurricular Intellectual Property Innovation Center (EiPIC) and brought it to COSI. EiPIC provides an engaging and hands-on space for students to learn about the field of IP and entrepreneurship through working with their own ideas. EiPIC partners with local intellectual property attorneys and experienced scientists and engineers with entrepreneurial experience who are able to teach IP from both the legal perspective and the viewpoint of someone who owns and uses their intellectual property. These intellectual property attorneys and STEM entrepreneurs are eager to teach students about IP – a subject area many of these experts weren’t introduced to until adulthood. EiPIC can support students from brainstorming ideas to developing an invention to protecting their intellectual property to becoming an entrepreneur. Students who have created an invention outside of EiPIC are also welcome to utilize the center’s resources and bring their previous invention to the next level with IP protections.

At the heart of COSI’s work in the world of intellectual property education is trying to make the topic available to students. Making IP engaging to young people by creating hands-on lessons helps the team at COSI to capture the attention of these students and teach them critical information that can help these students both today and in the future. Dr. Leikin notes that simply being willing to talk to students about intellectual property – a subject that’s typically reserved for older learners – in a similar manner that one would converse with another adult can help students feel respected and engaged with the material. The team at COSI prioritizes small-group conversations, interactive sessions, and open opportunities to ask questions over lecture-style lessons. Because the students who learn about IP at COSI can directly engage with experts, they feel as if they are an important part of the process and an important part of the world of IP. “It’s important to engage voices that aren’t always engaged,” says Dr. Leikin.

With examples of intellectual property all around us, it’s important to look towards our communities for resources on how to educate our youth on the subject. “I’m glad that these conversations [around intellectual property] are happening. I’m glad organizations [that offer IP education] exist because they’re recognizing that there’s this gap in learning. Students learn “don’t plagiarize” and “don’t steal” other people’s work, but they don’t learn how to protect their work, so I’m glad that this conversation is coming more to the forefront,” explains Dr. Leikin, “I’m grateful that there are more opportunities now for people to see and learn from young people and people who  are engaged in [IP] work.” Institutions and organizations, like COSI and IPOEF are leading the way in offering IP education support. “If we can get a critical mass and energy to lobby for more intellectual property experiences for kiddos and young adults alike, the better off they’ll be,” says Dr. Bertley.