Empowering Young Entrepreneurs with Intellectual Property Education

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property (Michelson IP) is pleased to announce partnerships with two high school innovation programs, the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Los Angeles and TiE Oregon to support intellectual property (IP) education within their exceptional youth entrepreneurship programs. The collaborations, which mark Michelson IP's first foray into IP education for K-12 students, aim to empower young people to solve challenges with an entrepreneurial mindset and understand how to leverage IP to protect their budding new ventures. We're especially thrilled to work together in this effort as both TiE and NFTE serve and support students from under-resourced communities.

"Both NFTE and TiE have made tremendous strides in preparing young people for the knowledge economy through entrepreneurship and innovation education," says Dr. Gary K. Michelson, founder of the Michelson 20MM Foundation and Michelson IP. "These new partnerships will not only build upon their successes, but also promote greater economic opportunity and mobility within underserved communities – an objective we all share."

Launched in 2007, TiE Oregon is the state chapter of TiE Global, a non-profit venture that supports entrepreneurs through education, mentorship, networking, and funding opportunities. Its TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) program introduces high school students to entrepreneurship through an invention-based curriculum that teaches the lean startup method and problem solving with design thinking. Michelson IP and TiE Oregon will together curate a grade-level-appropriate IP educational curriculum to be incorporated into TYE, as well as infuse IP content into additional entrepreneurship programs managed by the TiE Oregon chapter.

"Michelson's IP curriculum for high school does a wonderful job of presenting information about intellectual property rights that students can easily comprehend. Their presentations, quizzes, and discussion questions give teachers the flexibility to tailor lesson plans for young, budding entrepreneurs," says Leah Gabler, a TYE In-class Instructor. "TYE benefits greatly by partnering with Michelson IP because their curriculum empowers our students to own their creations and understand the protections for entrepreneurs that our country affords."

NFTE is equally committed to providing young people with the entrepreneurship education needed to succeed in the knowledge economy. Through a unique combination of high-impact student programs with exceptional teacher training and support, the organization has reached more than 500,000 young people over the last 33 years. Now, NFTE LA and Michelson IP are teaming up to deploy an IP education pilot at Paramount High School in Los Angeles County. The pilot will incorporate IP curriculum over a week of NFTE's "Entrepreneurship 2" program, and will culminate with a panel of IP experts sharing real-world IP strategies with the students.

"At NFTE, we aim to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in underestimated youth and bridge the opportunity gap they so often face," says Kim Small, Senior Regional Director - West. "It is because of partnerships like Michelson IP that we can achieve that mission for the students of Paramount High School."

The collaboration with NFTE and TiE Oregon marks the first of ongoing collaborations for advancing IP literacy amongst young entrepreneurs.

About the Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property
The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property (Michelson IP), an initiative of the Michelson 20MM Foundation, addresses critical gaps in intellectual property education to empower the next generation of inventors. Access free high-quality instructional content at MichelsonIP.com.

Michelson IP is made possible thanks to the generous support of renowned inventor Dr. Gary K. Michelson and Alya Michelson.

Contact: Program Manager, Jelani Odlum, [email protected]

SOURCE The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property

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