USPTO Offers IP Awareness Assessment

Under the joint auspices of the US Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology/Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the IP Awareness Assessment is now in the beta stage and available for businesses and inventors to assess their intellectual property awareness. Dubbed “a business and inventor’s IP education tool,” this web-based offering is designed to assess IP knowledge and provide personalized training resources for businesses and inventors.

The full assessment, made up of 62 questions and taking about 20-30 minutes to complete, includes questions in specific IP protection categories, such as Utility Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Trade Secrets and Design Patents, as well as general IP categories, like IP Strategies & Best Practices, Using Technology of Others, Licensing Technology to Others, International IP Rights and IP Asset Tracking. A shorter pre-assessment also is available, comprised of five questions, which takes about three minutes to complete and which allows a user to then choose a customized assessment specific to one of the above IP protection areas.

Once an assessment is completed, the program displays the results along with links for suggested training material resources. To access the IP Awareness Assessment, click here.