This article outlines three key components of a $85M “National Intellectual Property Strategy” being adopted in 2018 by the Canadian government. The program seeks to help Canada’s innovative companies by providing (1) a pilot patent collective, (2) IP education and legal clinics, and (3) IP tools.
First, the patent collective will ensure that IP generated in Canada with taxpayer funding is available to Canadian innovators. Second, the IP education and legal advice will specifically target entrepreneurs providing them with basic information on the difference between patents and trademarks in order to help them get their feet underneath them when starting a business. Finally, the IP tools will aim at disseminating information regarding available IP that has been generated in Canada.
The goal of this national strategy is to “pivot from past understandings of IP as a simple legal mechanism, to IP as an innovation asset that can drive domestic economic growth.”
I know very little about IP law and am interested in looking back at this article after our class on Tuesday to see how it fits into our discussion on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, & IP.
I think this is a great idea! Viewing intellectual property as an asset is crucial to development in the international realm. It will make Canada more appealing to other countries when it comes to licensing . And it will also facilitate the development of even more intellectual property, thus making the country more appealing to other countries to establish FDIs.