Surgeon and entrepreneur Gary Michelson, MD, and his foundation Michelson 20MM Foundation, launched an online course focused on patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secrets.
The course, hosted on Udemy.com, is titled "Intellectual Property: Inventors, Entrepreneurs and Creators." The course is free of charge and based on Dr. Michelson's book The Intangible Advantage: Understanding Intellectual Property in the New Economy.
"Intellectual property's imprint is everywhere, from Silicon Valley startups and Fortune 500 board rooms to small local businesses," said Dr. Michelson. "A basic understanding of patents and trademarks can help businesses navigate the legal framework of IP to capitalize on their hard work and hopefully avoid costly litigation battles."
Here are five things to know:
1. The course includes 3.5 hours of content, divided into 38 videos. The course has checkpoints, links and learning objectives outlined.
2. Those that download the course will have lifetime access available on mobile devices and receive a certificate of completion.
3. Throughout his career, Dr. Michelson has secured 250 U.S. patents on instruments, methods and devices for orthopedic and spine surgery; he has more than 950 issued or pending patents worldwide.
4. Dr. Michelson devoted his medical career to spine care and developing instrumentation and techniques for minimally invasive procedures that could be performed in the outpatient setting.
5. He has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and National Academy of Inventors.