The Training of Intellectual Property Exploitation Agents project (SWAN) is a pilot project co-funded by the Leonardo da Vinci Program (2006-2008).Leonardo da Vinci is a European Commission action program designed to support and complement actions in the European Union to improve the quality of continuing vocational training and policy practice

The objective of the project was to create a comprehensive and interactive training course to make international professionals operating in the area of Intellectual Property (IP) and technology transfer familiar with crucial issues related to IP, in order to incorporate in into their  business strategy and optimise its exploitation.

The SWAN project resulted in  a comprehensive training program that assists individuals, Universities and SMEs in developing appropriate IP exploitation strategies for their business. It emphasizes the importance of marketing and sales in successfully exploiting and promoting IP, and also covers international considerations that should be made when developing an IP strategy.

Target Group:

• Science park managers
• Incubation centre managers
• Institutional research administrators and managers (in particular research oriented universities)
• Business advisors and consultants
• Business development officers from SME's
• Regional developing agencies
• Technology transfer offices
• Research centers

The SWAN training program was developed by an international consortium which provides a combination of the resources, knowledge and experience in the fields of IP exploitation, technology commercialization, spin-off support and technology transfer