Useful innovations often get stuck in the forest of patent law. So we were pleased to get this request from the European Patent Office Didactics Department:

“Please help us to help innovators get their ideas out into the world and making a difference, by making patent law easier to master — with a human touch.”

We began with day of face-to-face workshops at the EPO headquarters in Munich, giving patent examiners from across Europe the opportunity to learn and try out new teaching methods. In teams, participants created and delivered mini PechaKucha-style presentations to each other. The results were fresh, focused and fun, drawing on storytelling, analogies, games, humour and improvisational theatre techniques.

Feedback sores were all >90%, with the techniques immediately put into practice and participants finding new energy and appetite for sharing knowledge about patent law.

We’ve since provided a whole range of face-to-face and online learning programmes spanning written communication skills, online presenting and personal impact, and how to be an ambassador for the EPO.