<\/p>\n
Ontario has launched a new agency to encourage the development, protection and commercialization of intellectual property in the province, in an effort to boost its economy at a time when ideas and patents are increasingly concentrated in jurisdictions such as Silicon Valley and China.<\/p>\n
The Globe and Mail first reported in 2019 that Doug Ford’s progressive government had set up a panel of intellectual property (IP) attorneys, professors, and other experts to study how effectively Ontario-funded institutions, including universities, colleges and accelerators, are commercializing ideas for creating businesses. .<\/p>\n
The province quietly published a new law on its website this week to create a new agency called Intellectual Property Ontario. The government plans to use the agency to enhance public access to resources on how intellectual property such as patents enhance economic competitiveness, and to help researchers, technologists, and other Ontarians who generate that intellectual property bring it to market. The agency will also advise the government on how to use intellectual property to make Ontario more competitive.<\/p>\n
Many of these ideas arose from a report released by the commission in early 2020 for the Ontario Department of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade \u2014 which funds start-up centers \u2014 and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada is lagging behind in intellectual property and the data-driven economy, so we need collective and strategic approaches to building capacity in short time to catch up, knowledge-generating ecosystems, and our business to achieve global success,\u201d said Jim Balselly, panel chair and former co-CEO of Canada. Research in Motion Ltd. , which changed its name to BlackBerry Ltd. , in an email on Friday. “Ontario has become a leader in Canada for raising awareness and building capacity for intellectual property and a data-driven economy.”<\/p>\n
The Ontario government declined to comment. But as described in the new agency’s statutes, it will require a less hawkish and value-for-money approach to regionally funded institutions than the commission initially did. Instead, the agency will dedicate resources to educating people who come up with ideas that can be patented, registered, or converted into other forms of intellectual property.<\/p>\n
Mira Tawfik, a professor at the University of Windsor who specializes in intellectual property law, who sat on the committee, gave the example of a college student who came up with an idea for a new type of personal protective equipment. That student might not have been interested in turning it into a business, but his classmate was.<\/p>\n
She said the agency could provide people in college with educational tools to prevent losing the opportunity to obtain a patent for the technology behind PPE. This will help these people avoid giving away ideas – for example, by presenting them at a conference before they are properly registered as IP.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were looking to create more awareness on campus, particularly in research institutes, about being able to think about the intellectual property consequences of what you do, without necessarily saying you need to go out on your own to market it,\u201d Professor Tawfik said in an interview.<\/p>\n
The statute also states that the agency will partner with local and international post-secondary institutions, and with business support groups, such as business incubators and accelerators, to bolster the province’s strength around patents and other intellectual property.<\/p>\n
The federal government created the Innovation Asset Group in 2019 with similar broad goals to New Ontario, but the group focuses on clean technology, buying and licensing its members’ patents to those members while protecting them from infringement lawsuits. It is also chaired by Mr. Balseli.<\/p>\n
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