Introduction to Intellectual Property
University of Pennsylvania
IP almost occupies my daily life, both at home and at work. It is my job at work. Also, my family members are in both IT and pharmaceutical industry, so there is always some talk or gossip related to IP every day.
The course introduces 3 major forms of IP: patents, copyrights and trademarks, then emphasize the theories and economics on which the IP laws were built. The instructor taught and I quote: “It is all about incentives. The utilitarian theory is really what animates intellectual property rights, at least in the US.”
Then alternatives to those 3 major forms are introduced, for example: grants, open source (copyleft), rapid product lifecycle, traditions / industrial norms, etc. I found them very useful, because these helped answer my quite a few questions.
At last the course uses 3 case studies to help us better understand IP: Apple, General Motors and Novartis. How do these colossi leverage IP laws by designing different strategies to protect their business? This part is the one that I like most!
This is the opening course of the IP specialization. I suppose we will take a deep dive into each of 3 major forms in later courses. It is exciting.
My Certificate
https://coursera.org/share/19eff291e5038409be0dd461ffdc5ced
I am Kesler Zhu, thanks for visiting. For more course reviews, check out my website https://KZHU.ai