Conjoint comparison of support systems for intellectual property activities of university students in science and engineering majors in Korea and Japan

As the knowledge economy rapidly increases, there is a view that national competitiveness is obtained by strengthening the science base and developing Research and Development (R&D) capacity. Especially, intellectual property (IP) rights of global companies have expanded their roles not only in protecting relevant R&D achievements, but also in mediating the utilization of licenses and others´ business resources. In regard to IP, most of the attention focuses on creation and protection of intellectual property. However, education on IP is important as a long-term strategy to form a solid foundation of creative human resources. Especially, the active education is necessary to cultivate the student independent creativity. This paper is to survey and analyze support systems for IP activities of university students in Korea and Japan. Applying conjoint comparison, this study shows not only the relative importance of the attributes related to IP activities but also more effective support programs for promoting IP activities of students. It is expected that this study may help to develop IP academic activities in Korea and Japan.