UG Student Questionnaire

"Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), the University, the Student and the Patent Attorney (PA)"

Hello!

Thank you for agreeing to take 10-15 minutes of your valuable time to help us
with our survey. Your responses will be used for no other purpose than to form
an overall picture of the statistical trends regarding views and experiences
related to the issues of interest. Your username/email address is only asked in
order to be able to establish you as a unique (and therefore valid) respondent.
Other than that, respondents will be treated as completely anonymous and at
no stage will any reference be made to you as an individual. Any personal
information you supply will be treated in complete confidentiality.

Please answer all questions and click on the 'Submit' button at the end of the
questionnaire when you are finished.

Please do NOT press the ENTER or RETURN key at any point.

(You can use the 'Reset' button to undo your responses, if required)

Please provide the following information

Your
Username
Department please select

Degree Title
full-time
Are you a part-time student
student
Years since
start of please select
degree
EC Non-EC
Are you a UK student
student student

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Q1. Who is financing your degree and by how much?

Please select all that apply
Your national government please select %

Industrial Sponsor/Contract please select %

Charitable Organisation please select %

Other Governmental or Inter-

please select %
Governmental (e.g. EU) Body
University please select %

Self-Financed please select %

Other please select %

If you selected ‘Other’ as one of your choices, please give details below

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Q2. Do you have a previous degree?

Yes No

If yes, what was the subject area of your previous degree?

 please select

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Q3. Have you ever worked in industry?

Yes No
If Yes:
a. What was your most recent/relevant job role?

b. For how many years?

please select

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Q4. How sure were you of your choice of degree course when applying to
university?

Give a score from 1 to 5, where

1 = totally unsure 2 = mostly unsure 3 = partially sure 4=
mostly sure 5 = totally sure
1 2 3 4 5

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Q5. Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with the following
statements

Give a score from 1 to 5, where

1 = completely disagree 2 = mostly disagree 3 = partially agree
4 = mostly agree 5 = completely agree
1 2 3 4 5
a. “I had a fair idea of what the course would be
like before I started”
b. “The course is very different from what I
expected”
c. “It has allowed me to develop technical skills in
my chosen field”
d. “It has enabled me to develop commercial
awareness”
e. “It has introduced me to basic business skills”
f. “It has introduced me to basic financial skills”
g. “It has enabled me to develop communication
skills”
h. “It has introduced me to the typical legal aspects
of business”
i. “It has enabled me to develop a basic awareness
of law typically relevant to my field”
j. “It has allowed me to develop analytical and
problem-solving skills”
k. “It has enabled me to develop practical/hands-on
skills”
l. “It has enabled me to develop creative and
innovative skills”
m. “It has prepared me adequately to launch a
career in my chosen profession or field”
n. “My interest in the subject has increased as I
have progressed through the course”

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Q6. How confident are you about your current skills and ability to do the
following?

On a scale of 0 to 10, where

0 = 0% = not at all confident 10 =
100% = completely confident
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
a. Review a project concept and have
a rough idea if it can be completed
for a reasonable cost.
b. Roughly estimate the costs of
running a new project.
c. Know the steps you would take to
place a financial value on a new
business venture.
d. Recognise when an idea is good
enough to support a major business
venture.
e.Write a clear and complete business
plan.
f. Explain an innovative, technical
idea behind a new product to non-
technical people.
g. Convince a customer or client to
try a new product for the first time.
h. Lead a technical team developing a
new product to a successful result.
i. Recruit the right employees for a
new project.
j. Ensure that a new business is able
to fulfil the typical legal
requirements.
k. Work with a supplier to get better
prices for a new venture.
l. Pick the right marketing approach
for the introduction of a new kind of
service.
m. Ensure that the Intellectual
Property (IP) associated to the
development of a new product is
properly protected.

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Q7. How much do you agree with the following statements about your future
career plans?

Give a score from 1 to 5, where

1 = completely disagree 2 = mostly disagree 3 = partially agree
4 = mostly agree 5 = completely agree
1 2 3 4 5
a. “After graduating, I want to work in the same
field as my degree subject/specialisation in my
future career”
b. “After graduating, I want to start a career in a
field other than science or engineering”
c. “After graduating, I will be happy to explore and
apply for jobs in a variety of fields in science,
technology, business or other professions”
d. “I do not know what career or profession I want
to enter after graduation”
e. “I want to pursue specialisation in an area of
interest within my present field through a
postgraduate degree/ further studies”
f. “In order to convert to a career in a profession
other than my present subject/field, I want to do
 another degree or further studies in a different
subject, or, an appropriate ‘conversion course’”

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Q8. Do you know any fellow students at this university who are
No Yes No. of students?
a. Applying for a 1 2
patent 3 or more
1 2
b. Granted a patent
3 or more
c. Considering 1 2
commercial
3 or more
exploitation

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Q9. Are you

No Yes
a. an inventor/co-inventor/owner of a
granted patent
b. Applying or applied for a patent
c. Considering commercial
exploitation of an idea or invention of
yours
If you answered No to all three parts a,b, and c above:

Have you ever considered the possibility of commercially exploiting

and/or patenting any ideas, inventions or innovations you might have come up
with?
Yes No
If Yes:
How close are the following scenarios or statements to your
experience or views?

Give a score from 1 to 5, where

1 = completely irrelevant 2 = mostly irrelevant 3 = partially relevant
4 = mostly relevant 5 = completely relevant
1 2 3 4 5
i. “I had an idea that I thought might be promising;
I considered the possibility of gaining financially
from evaluating any potential for commercial
exploitation”
ii. “I was not sure if there was a viable commercial
potential for it and did not want to put in time and
effort without better chances of commercial
success”
iii. “I was not sure if I was the first or only one to
have come up with the idea”
iv. “I did not know how to find out whether my
idea was patentable or how to approach
commercialisation”
v. “It was just a thought but I never gave patenting
or commercialisation any serious consideration”

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Q10. Do you agree with the following statements?

Give a score from 1 to 5, where

1 = completely disagree 2 = mostly disagree 3 = partially agree
4 = mostly agree 5 = completely agree
1 2 3 4 5
 a. “My ability to think innovatively has developed as a
result of my interest in science/technology”
b. “My ability to think innovatively has developed as a
result of my training as an engineer/scientist/technologist”
c. “I would like to be an innovator/inventor and create
something useful”
d. “I would like to develop a business based on an
innovative idea of mine”

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Q11. If you needed guidance about patenting or commercial exploitation,

where would you go for advice?

Please select all that apply

Your supervisor / tutor
University Enterprise &
Innovation Office
University IP Manager
University Research Support
Office
Patent Attorney
DIY (Do It Yourself)
An invention marketing
company
Other
If you selected ‘Other’ as one of your choices, please give details below

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Q12. Have you ever considered using, or, used any of the following?

Please select all that apply

Confidential
Disclosure Agreement
Mutual
Confidentiality
Agreement
Materials Transfer
Agreement
Screening Agreement
Other confidentiality
instrument(s)
None of the above
If you selected ‘Other’ as one of your choices, please give details below

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Q13. Do you think the following should be patentable?

Not
Yes No
Sure
a. Genetic Innovations (e.g. modified genes, gene
fragments, gene expression, gene tests, stem cells)
b. Results of university research
c. Research Tools
d. Basic Knowledge (e.g. scientific discoveries,
mathematical methods)
e. Software
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Q14. What, in your view, is the level of your awareness of IP rights and
patent law?

On a scale from 1 to 5
1 = completely unaware 2 = mostly unaware 3 = partially aware
4 = mostly aware 5 = completely aware
1 2 3 4 5

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Q15. Have you ever undertaken a patent search for

Please select all that apply

Verifying the novelty of your idea or
innovation
Research the state and/or thrust of a
particular area of technology
Identify players and/or experts in a
particular area of technology or
science
No, I have never done a patent search

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Q16. Would you consider using patent searching as a means of researching

any of the above?
Yes No Not sure

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Q17. If an introductory Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) course was offered

by the University, would you consider taking it?
Yes No Not sure

Regardless of your answer to the preceding question, please give

your views about the preferred format of an introductory IPR course
for science and/or engineering students:
a. Should it be in the form of
Taught Self-Taught Guide Book
course course / Booklet
b. Should it be offered as
a an
compulsory optional
module module
c. In which year of an undergraduate degree, if at all, do you think
such a course or introduction may be more appropriate?
3rd / 4th Postgraduate
1st year 2nd year
year level
d. How many hours, in total, should the course be?
up to 4 to 10 or
2 to 3
1 10 more
e. If you were interested in such a course for yourself, how many
hours, in total, would you be willing to devote to it?
up to 4 to 10 or
2 to 3
1 10 more

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Q18. How important do you think are enterprise skills (e.g. business,
management, communication, legal, financial and commercial skills) for

Give a score from 1 to 5, where

1 = completely unimportant 2 = fairly unimportant 3 = partially
important 4 = fairly important 5 = very important
An engineer? A scientist?
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

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Q19. How important are Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) skills, in your
view, as part of the above listed enterprise skills for

Give a score from 1 to 5, where

1 = completely unimportant 2 = fairly unimportant 3 = partially
important 4 = fairly important 5 = very important
An engineer? A scientist?
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

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Q20. Who do you think would be best suited to teach or develop an

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) course?

For engineering students? For science students?

A law academic with IP skills
An IP lawyer
A Patent Attorney with a
technology background
A scientist with IP skills
An engineer with IP skills
A university technology transfer
manager with an engineering
background
An IP Manager from industry
University IP Manager
A Management Scientist with IP
skills
A Business Studies academic with
IP skills
A business practitioner with IP
skills
A law academic with IP skills
An IP lawyer
A Patent Attorney with a
technology background
A scientist with IP skills
An engineer with IP skills
A university technology transfer
manager with a science
background
An IP Manager from industry
University IP Manager
A Management Scientist with IP
skills
A Business Studies academic with
IP skills
A business practitioner with IP
skills

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Q21. Please make any additional comments you wish to make relevant to this
questionnaire

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In order to help us give a larger context to our statistical analysis of

the results of this survey, Kindly, provide the information requested
below

Please note that all personal details provided would be treated in complete
confidence. No publication or dissemination of personal information will
be made without your prior knowledge and permission. Ethnic information
will be kept and always treated separately from personal details.
Your age please select
 Your
please select
gender
Your
ethnic please select
origin
Is English
your first Yes No
language?

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Please select 'No' if you do not

wish to participate in the Lucky Yes No
Draw

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Now, if you like, you may complete the Short Quiz below. Otherwise, please
click on 'Submit' now to send us your responses.

Submit Reset

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A Short Quiz

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Please note that one or more of the given options may be correct for all the
questions in this quiz.

Kindly indicate how confident you are of the correctness your answers for each
question, by using a number between 1 and 3 to show the level of confidence,
where

1 = ‘just a guess’ and 3 = ‘absolutely sure’

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1. Which of the following legal intellectual property protection mechanisms

require an application to be made to the UK Patent Office?

Trade Mark
Confidentiality Agreement
Registered Design
Patent
Copyright
All of the above

Confidence level? 1 2 3

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2. Which of the following can be patented according to UK Patent Law?

 A Computer Program
Research Tools
Databases
Human, animal or plant genes
Business processes or strategies
Mathematical methods or
formulae
None of the above
Confidence level? 1 2 3

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3. How long after filing might a UK patent be granted?

1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years
5 years
More than 5 years
Confidence level? 1 2 3

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4. How long after applying to the UK Patent Office for a patent can a ‘public
disclosure’ of your invention be made?

Immediately
up to 6 months
up to 12 months
up to 24 months
Not until the patent is granted
Confidence level? 1 2 3

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5. Which of the following constitutes ‘disclosure’ within the context of UK

Patent Law?

Scientific or learned papers

published in a journal or magazine
Poster Display or Open Day
Exhibitions or Demos
Casual conversation with friends or
colleagues
Presentation to a large audience
under a formal confidentiality
agreement
All of the above
Confidence level? 1 2 3

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Please press the 'Submit' button now to save and send your responses

Many Thanks!
Submit Reset

© 2007 University of York

Last revised: April 24, 2007