Intellectual Property

Module Overview

The objective of this relatively short module is for students to achieve a common understanding of intellectual property (IP) law in Canada. In Unit 1, intellectual property is defined as it applies to students and engineers, followed by a brief introduction on various forms of intellectual property rights (IPR). Units 2 and 3 focus on copyrights and Patents, respectively. Trademarks and trade secrets are also covered in Unit 3. This module takes a “hand-on” approach to teaching the principles of intellectual property and engages students throughout the entire module to evaluate various situations that they may encounter both at the university and at their workplace. The goal of this module is to provide students with a frame of reference as far as the intellectual property law is concerned and train them to ask the right questions and look out for situations that may get them into trouble in their professional engineering career.

Major Units:

• Definitions
• Patents
• Copyright
• Software licenses
• Entertainment (music, movies, etc.)
• Fair Dealings
• Legal recourse
• Case Studies

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, and through a careful study, students should be able to:

• Explain what acceptable use of IP is and what constitutes an offense.
• Differentiate between different forms of intellectual property rights (IPR).
• Evaluate the proper and improper use of intellectual property in the context of authentic case studies.
• Apply their understanding of these principles to use intellectual property properly in their work as a student and as an engineer.