The role of intellectual property management education in a technology management curriculum

Should intellectual property (IP) management be considered a required course in Technology Management curricula? If so, what knowledge and skills should be conveyed in a one-semester course? What is the best way to teach this material? This paper presents evidence that intellectual property management should be of central importance to technology management (TM) programs and that professionally vital knowledge can be taught to MBA and Management of Technology (MOT) students without legal backgrounds. IP management can be seen as a curricular locus, bringing together subjects such as entrepreneurship, technology strategy, and technology transfer. At Stevens Institute of Technology, we’ve taken the position that IP Management should be taught as a distinct course in a technology management program on equal footing with more traditional course offerings such as Marketing and Finance. We reflect upon 4 years’ teaching experience and present evidence from former students that the course fulfills its mission to be professionally relevant and pedagogically unifying to technology management programs.