Innovation Asset Blog

Students apply intellectual property lessons at Colorado State

Colorado State University continues to be one of academia's leading advocates for the commercialization of intellectual assets, as its technology transfer office ranks among the most active in the nation. It seems as though these principles have spread throughout the campus community lately, following reports that the student government is invoking the defense of its members' intellectual property rights in relation to several university campaigns.

CSU Ventures, a foundation that serves as a link between university researchers and local entrepreneurs, has consistently provided students with a clear blueprint on how to nurture an idea from conception to commercial application. Just this week, CSU Ventures partnered with the Innovation Center of the Rockies to extend the potential of university research innovations into the nonprofit sector.

With similar stories often circulating campus newspapers, intellectual property awareness may be uniquely elevated among the student body. This month, class officers will be applying the principles on a smaller level as they aim to prove students have not been appropriately rewarded for their creative contributions to school events and marketing campaigns.

"CSU protects the use of the CSU logo and the Ram's head," student government president Eric Berlinberg told the Rocky Mountain Collegian. "That is exactly what we are trying to do here, but with our intellectual property."

According to the news outlet, much of the controversy stems from an environmental awareness event created by the student group in 2003 that they now believe has developed significant brand equity and could be usurped by the administration to use for the benefit of admissions brochures and other promotional materials.

Peter Ackerman

Peter Ackerman

Founder & CEO, Innovation Asset Group, Inc.