The following job opportunity was shared with us by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. IP Osgoode is not involved in the hiring process, but we hope to reach eligible and interested members of our community.

Do you have knowledge and experience in the intellectual property (IP) field? Are you interested in helping federal organizations maximize benefits from IP through a range of programs, initiatives and policies?�� If so, then Innovation Canada’s IP Directorate might be right for you!

Who we are:

The IP Directorate in Innovation Canada is home to three IP-focused programs created under the and .�� We are specifically looking to hire for the IP Centre of Expertise (IP CoE), a team of IP experts that provide strategic IP advice, training and collaboration support to federal organizations and officials.��

We are a growing and dynamic directorate, with teammates from varied backgrounds and experiences who have been brought together to address a variety of federal IP challenges.

Who we are looking for:

We are looking for exceptional teammates who will assist us in developing and delivering our programs.�� Note that this is anticipatory hiring. In particular, we are seeking candidates for the following roles:

IP Experts (EC-06 or equivalent), IP CoE: We are looking for bilingual (BBB) individuals with a deep knowledge of IP and significant and recent experience providing IP-related advice, who can:��

• Provide IP expertise, advice, guidance and information to federal organizations
• Draft IP-related documents in order to provide advice, guidance, expertise
• Help federal officials consider and address IP business challenges and opportunities
• Build a network of stakeholders across government departments
• Report to management on the status of your projects

Junior IP Analysts (EC-02 or equivalent): We are looking for bilingual (BBB) individuals with some IP knowledge and a strong interest in IP, who will:

• Work with the IP experts to deliver IP expertise, advice, guidance and information to federal organizations
• Draft IP-related documents in order to provide advice, guidance, expertise
• Conduct research and analysis to inform the work of the IP CoE
• Support in the delivery of IP training and collaboration initiatives, including the Federal Intellectual Property Partnership community of practice
• Report to management on the status of your projects

What do we need from you?

If any of this has piqued your interest, please send your CV and a short summary (no more than 150 words) outlining how you would be an ideal candidate for a role in the IP Directorate to Rami Farah, Administrative Assistant, at rami.farah@ised-isde.gc.ca by September 7, 2021, 10am EST. Please clearly indicate the position(s) for which you are interested in applying.

Please feel free to share with colleagues who may be interested in this position.

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Avez-vous des connaissances et de l’expérience dans le domaine de la propriété intellectuelle��(PI)? Aimeriez-vous aider des organismes fédéraux à maximiser les avantages de la PI grâce à un éventail de programmes, d’initiatives et de politiques?�� Si c’est le cas, la Direction de la PI d’Innovation Canada serait peut-être le milieu de travail idéal pour vous!

Qui sommes-nous?

La Direction de la PI d’Innovation Canada regroupe trois programmes axés sur la PI créés dans le cadre de la et du . ��Nous recherchons spécifiquement à embaucher pour le Centre d’expertise en PI (CE en PI), une équipe d’experts dans le domaine de la PI qui offre des conseils stratégiques, de la formation et un soutien à la collaboration aux organismes et aux fonctionnaires fédéraux.��

Nous sommes une organisation dynamique et en pleine croissance, composée de coéquipiers aux parcours et aux expériences variés, qui ont été réunis pour relever une vaste gamme de défis en matière de PI au niveau fédéral.

Qui recherchons-nous?

Nous sommes à la recherche de collègues compétents qui nous aideront à élaborer et à mettre en œuvre nos trois programmes. Notez qu'il s'agit d'une embauche anticipée. Nous recherchons des candidats pour les rôles suivants��:

Experts en PI (EC-06 ou équivalent), CE en PI : Nous recherchons des personnes bilingues��(BBB) ayant une connaissance approfondie de la PI et une expérience appréciable et récente de la fourniture de conseils en matière de PI, qui peuvent��:��

• fournir une expertise, des conseils, des orientations et des renseignements en matière de PI aux organismes fédéraux;
• rédiger des documents relatifs à la PI afin de fournir des conseils, des orientations et une expertise sur le sujet;
• aider les fonctionnaires fédéraux à examiner et à aborder les défis et les possibilités d’affaires liés à la PI;
• créer un réseau d’intervenants à l’échelle du gouvernement fédéral;
• rendre compte à la direction de l’état d’avancement de leurs projets.

Analystes subalternes de PI (EC-02 ou équivalent)��: Nous recherchons des personnes bilingues��(BBB) ayant une certaine connaissance de la PI et un intérêt marqué pour la PI, qui devront��:

• travailler avec les experts en PI afin de fournir une expertise, des conseils, des orientations et des renseignements en matière de PI aux organismes fédéraux;
• rédiger des documents relatifs à la PI afin de fournir des conseils, des orientations et une expertise sur le sujet;
• effectuer des recherches et des analyses afin d’éclairer le travail du CE en PI;
• soutenir la mise en œuvre d’initiatives de formation et de collaboration en matière de PI, notamment la communauté de pratique sur le Partenariat fédéral en matière de propriété intellectuelle;
• rendre compte à la direction de l’état d’avancement de leurs projets.

Qu’attendons-nous de vous?

Si ce qui précède a suscité votre intérêt, veuillez envoyer votre CV et un bref résumé (maximum 150��mots) expliquant en quoi vous seriez le candidat idéal pour un poste au sein de la Direction de la PI à Rami Farah, adjoint administratif, à rami.farah@ised-isde.gc.ca ��’i���� le 7 septembre 2021, 10h HNE. Veuillez indiquer clairement le ou les postes pour lesquels vous souhaitez postuler.

N’hésitez pas à diffuser cette information à des collègues qui pourraient être intéressés par ces postes.

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On April 26, 2021, the theme of World IP Day 2021 is “”. Since I founded the IP Innovation Clinic in 2010, the Clinic has helped countless innovators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses to do exactly that. Our students have provided basic legal information to clients who otherwise would not have any access to it. To date, the Clinic has subsidized over $2,000,000CDN of legal fees that would otherwise have been paid by those without access to resources. This past year, the Clinic has expanded its impact through the recently launched , a free legal chatbot which uses a vast database of credible IP information to answer users’ initial IP questions and guide them to the type of legal help they need. This is only the beginning of the ChatBot’s story.

In a critical time of Covid-19 isolation, I aim to ensure that the IP Innovation ChatBot’s content is accessible and attuned to the unique realities of underrepresented communities in Canada’s intellectual property (IP) innovation ecosystem; namely, women and indigenous peoples. Having assisted clients in these underrepresented groups in the IP Innovation Clinic, and through my own research and writing in this area, I have seen first-hand the distinct struggles these groups confront in the traditional IP innovation ecosystem and the distinct challenges they face to bring their innovations to society; from being silenced in their ideation phase to lacking adequate resources and know-how to develop IP strategies attuned to their unique needs and perspectives.

This AI-powered initiative has been launched thanks to the Canadian government’s , and supports its mandate to increase IP awareness and education by making IP information more accessible. These learnings can easily be applied to other areas of the law.

The ChatBot has been realized due to visionary IP Innovation Clinic champions backing our work, Innovation 91��ɫ at 91��ɫ, Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) at the very outset and Bergeron Entrepreneurs Science and Technology (BEST) Program at Lassonde School of Engineering and Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) Canada LLP. Indeed, the technical and legal expertise of Partner, Maya Medeiros, and Al Hounsell at NRF, and our Osgoode JD team of students led by Ryan Wong, class of 2021. It is also an honour to work closely with other leaders in the federal government such as the Konstantinos Georgaras, CEO (Interim) at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and Jennifer Miller, Erin Campbell and their teams at Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), who understand and work hard to overcome the challenges Canadian innovators face.

I previously uncovered the various challenges that underrepresented communities face in the IP innovation system and how grassroots initiatives, such as IP legal clinics, can assist in and in more recent work to use the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to build an IP Innovation ChatBot to make IP law more accessible. Going forward, I plan to expand on this foundational and empirical work to build the IP Innovation Clinic and the ChatBot to make the IP innovation ecosystem more accessible.

Ultimately, in an era of increasing technological disruption and lingering societal inequality and pandemic isolation, I hope to influence future legal education and make our justice system accessible to all Canadians.

Indeed, AI applications, including legal chatbots, use machine learning to make the law more understandable, manageable, useful, accessible, predictable, and efficient. Legal chatbots increase access to justice through their wider reach and lower costs. Many underrepresented communities receive either inadequate or no legal help at all. Technology currently cannot provide complex legal advice, but AI-powered online legal services can cost-effectively deliver accessible, basic legal help. Some, like our IP Innovation ChatBot, do so for free. Chatbots can thus democratize access to basic legal services for the underserved, and therefore deserve greater study and adoption.

Since its January 29, 2021 launch, the IP Innovation ChatBot has been a magnet for public use. Several members of the legal community have already inquired to learn how to emulate it. With the information from these analyses, I plan to design and build an enhanced, interactive, dynamic, and accessible portal powered by next-generation artificial intelligence operating on big data curated by our pioneering IP Innovation ChatBot.

The ChatBot will remain a free, sophisticated, and smart online tool, driven by AI and designed to cater to underrepresented and disenfranchised innovators. It will soon house key IP resources and information, leading updates, and links to Canadian and international government IP resources. The ChatBot’s scaled-up national platform will analyse its amassed archive of data and identify common IP knowledge translation problems to devise and anticipate solutions. Adapted for the COVID-19 era and beyond, the ChatBot will support the next generation of lawyers, educate and stimulate innovation from underrepresented communities, provide start-up entrepreneurs with access to IP resources, and be the public’s go-to tool for independent and impartial IP knowledge.

Prof Pina D’Agostino is Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and Founder and Director of IP Osgoode, the IPilogue, the IP Innovation Clinic, and officially since January 2021 the recently launched IP Innovation Clinic ChatBot.

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The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) made building IP awareness and education one of the key pillars of our . Through the program we established, we’ve been able to engage directly with partners with a keen interest in growing IP knowledge, and helping business use their IP more strategically. In particular, our IP Awareness and Education Program has made a point of reaching out to women entrepreneurs, who traditionally have been less likely to use IP, to help them become more IP savvy and give them tools for business success that flow from their IP.

Our work on awareness and education supports the Government of Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan, as well as the National IP Strategy which was announced in April 2018. In last year’s budget, the Government also announced $85.3 million over five years to support the National IP Strategy. CIPO was very proud to have our IP Awareness and Education Program established as a foundational piece of the Strategy.

We don’t have all the answers today about why women entrepreneurs and innovators are somewhat underrepresented in terms of global IP filings. We know that in 2017, 31.2% of all applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) included women inventors, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s PCT Yearly Review.�� For PCT applications originating in Canada, the number is 24.8%. Of all inventors named in PCT applications, only 16.4% were women. Data we’ve compiled at CIPO suggests that women-owned businesses are disproportionately among those with no IP.

We can take meaningful steps today to help ensure that more women have a better understanding of IP and are able to use it strategically, to try to move the needle in a positive direction. That includes continuing efforts to increase IP literacy and the strategic use of IP by women entrepreneurs and scientists through targeted initiatives like those we have in our IP Awareness and Education Program at CIPO. The Empowering Women Entrepreneurs symposium is just one outstanding example of the ways we strive to keep the dialogue alive about IP and innovation among women.

The tools and resources we offer to support businesses and innovators are free and accessible, and available at . They can help you learn about IP, from the basics of patents, trademarks and industrial designs, to more advanced topics for those further along on their IP journeys. We have a team of working in all the regions of Canada, who are there to answer questions and provide insight into IP strategies for businesses. And we’re adding more resources all the time to help Canadians get the IP knowledge they need to succeed.

We’re here to help! Reach out to CIPO any time you have questions about IP, and together we can continue to help women innovate, grow their businesses and succeed.

Written by Darlene Carreau,��Director General, Business Services Branch at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.

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Enabling women entrepreneurs to better leverage their IP was the focus of IP Osgoode's  at Osgoode Hall Law School on 11 February 2019. The symposium brought together IP experts and accomplished entrepreneurs for a full day of panels, break-out sessions, and networking opportunities. The inspiring event was the brainchild of IP Osgoode's founder & director, Professor Pina D’Agostino, and the team at Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) led by Darlene Carreau, Director General of the Business Services Branch at the CIPO.  The symposium continues the organizations’ efforts to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship across Canada.

Keynote Address and Panel Discussion

, cofounder of & , discussed challenges she overcame as a young female entrepreneur. She highlighted the benefits she experienced from having a male business partner whom she trusts and who advocates for her. Through discussions with the attendees, Rawlley advised that finding a trustworthy partner requires following your gut and looking for a personality that complements your own. In addition to having an advocate, it is essential to be confident in business interactions. You can develop confidence from self-learning and equipping yourself with new technical skills. Rawlley also balances confidence with vulnerability. She suggested that vulnerability through sharing negative experiences when networking with others is important to make meaningful connections and learn from colleagues in the industry.

During the panel discussion, Darlene Carreau discussed the issues with low IP awareness and use among Canadian enterprises. IP is essential to businesses as they grow and scale. , Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and former Chief Legal Officer for Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM), contextualized the conversation by adding that even after paying registration fees, maintaining IP can be a significant cost. For example, having IP registrations can make companies a target for .

Jacqueline (Jackie Cooper), former Chief Revenue Officer at Muse, discussed how these business challenges present opportunities to find new ways to leverage IP rights. Jessica Rawlley added that IP has to be seen as an investment and not as a cost. Thinking about IP in early business stages is not typically a priority and it tends to be pushed down on a company’s list of things to do. Through her discussion questions, Professor D’Agostino highlighted issues such as the lack of innovation that aims to address women’s needs. Considering women’s perspectives in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is a step toward this goal. One example of how women entrepreneurs have changed the way innovation addresses women’s issues is , which uses a fiber found in bullet proof vests and climbing materials to create indestructible pantyhose.

Important Conversations

The event was an incredibly unique opportunity for women entrepreneurs to obtain advice from a female perspective, instead of receiving business advice that is blind to their realities. Those that attended the event had the rare chance to receive guidance from IP professionals in circumstances that were safe and welcoming for women.

In the afternoon breakout sessions, participants were able to have direct conversations with IP experts and receive immediate feedback, without any interruptions or condescension. As we heard throughout the day, these are issues that continue to beguile women in business, especially in the technology industry. In particular, , the Waterloo Region IP Advisor at the CIPO, spoke about her experiences advising male Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) who think they know everything about IP, and the keynote, Jessica Rawlley, reflected on the times when business connections would ignore her until her male business partner repeated the same thought. This is a sad reality which hinders progress for professional women, but at the symposium participants were actually respected and heard.

The Women Entrepreneurship Symposium provided a wealth of information for women business owners. It provided resources, information, and networking opportunities for women who are accomplishing incredible things and stimulating the Canadian economy through business. But perhaps the most important takeaway was the hope and inspiration that will undoubtedly give participants the confidence they need to succeed.

Meeting so many formidable women who had started or were planning to start businesses was immensely encouraging. At the start of the day, Interim Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Mary Condon had expressed her hope that we would all leave with more “inspiration and enthusiasm” than when we arrived. And she got her wish.

Written by Gillian Burrell and Summer Lewis. Gillian Burrell is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Summer Lewis is an IPilogue Editor and a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School.

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Co-chaired by Osgoode Professor Pina D’Agostino, founder and director of IP Osgoode and the Innovation Clinic, and Darlene Carreau, Director-General, Business Services Branch, CIPO, the symposium will bring together an impressive group of successful women entrepreneurs, business leaders, and IP practitioners who will reflect on their own experiences and mentor the attendees on how to recognize, protect and commercialize their IP.

The symposium features a keynote presentation from , the co-founder of MaaS Pros and TIEIT Inc. Rawlley has been recognized for her outstanding entrepreneurship and contributions to the country’s innovation ecosystem. She is the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year and TIEIT also received the Innovation of the Year award at the same event.

The morning panel, entitled “IP & Commercialization – Protecting and Leveraging Your Most Valuable Assets: You and Your Ideas,” will focus on the importance of having an IP strategy and best practices for leveraging some of the main areas of IP. The panel will also focus on key issues to identify and act on as well as the realities of starting a business. Chaired by D’Agostino, the panel features Darlene Carreau from CIPO, along with , former Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Research in Motion (Blackberry) and Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation, and , Chief Revenue Office, Muse.

Following a networking luncheon, attendees will break into smaller groups and circulate through four IP-themed mentorship sessions. These sessions offer an interactive networking opportunity for the participants to ask questions, connect with leading experts and entrepreneurs, and receive mentorship directed at their professional and business goals. The four mentorship session themes are structured around pivotal aspects of the commercialization cycle: 1) IP identification and protection, 2) IP commercialization and strategies, 3) IP and financing, and 4) growing and scaling.

Carreau will be joined by , Associate, Bereskin & Parr LLP, and , Lawyer and Patent Agent, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, to discuss how entrepreneurs should recognize the value in their ideas and inventions and protect them via various forms of IP law.

During the IP commercialization and strategies sessions, Karima Bawa will be joined by , Partner, Cassels Brock, to discuss how IP can be effectively leveraged and commercialized in many ways.

The IP and financing mentorship sessions will give attendees insight into the importance of having and leveraging IP to secure external funding. , Regional Innovation Officer, Innovation Canada (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) and , CPA, CA, Baker Tilly Vaughan LLP, will draw from their experiences in areas such as entrepreneurship and manufacturing to guide attendees forward.

Recognizing the important role that scale-ups play in Canada’s economy, Jackie Cooper and , Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, will speak to the unique challenges that entrepreneurs and start-ups face as they move towards the scale-up level.

The ‘Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Effective Strategies for IP Commercialization and Success’ symposium continues the efforts of IP Osgoode and CIPO to encourage and empower entrepreneurs across Canada. IP Osgoode and CIPO staff will be on hand to connect with attendees looking to access services and tools such as IP Osgoode’s and the CIPO’s new .

Founded in 2010, the Innovation Clinic is the largest pro bono IP legal clinic and the first of its kind in Canada. In collaboration with and , the Innovation Clinic provides experiential learning experiences for Osgoode students in the areas of IP and technology law while at the same time providing pro bono one-to-one IP law information and support to inventors, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies in Toronto, 91��ɫ Region, Waterloo Region, and beyond.

CIPO’s IP Awareness and Education Program serves as a one-stop shop that helps connect Canadians with the IP tools, resources and experts they need at every stage of their IP commercialization journey.

The symposium is free of charge and open to all members of the 91��ɫ community and anyone interested in learning more about IP law and the role of IP in commercial success.

About IP Osgoode

Conceptualized & founded in 2008 by Professor Giuseppina D’Agostino, IP Osgoode, the Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Technology Program at Osgoode Hall Law School, is an independent and authoritative voice which explores legal governance issues at the intersection of intellectual property and technology. IP Osgoode cultivates interdisciplinary, comparative and transnational research, collaboration, policy-thinking and practice on the basis of a tight connection between teaching, research and clinical action. IP Osgoode has put Osgoode and 91��ɫ on the map in the global IP debate. We aim to influence the IP debate in Canada and internationally by educating our students and collaborating with the IP community in Canada and worldwide. Together, we have built an innovative program that is cutting-edge and completely unique to Osgoode

About 91��ɫ

91��ɫ champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91��ɫ is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.
91��ɫ U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

About CIPO

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office��(CIPO) is a Special Operating Agency��(SOA) of (ISED). CIPO is responsible for the administration and processing of the greater part of ��(IP) in Canada. CIPO's areas of activity include trademarks, patents, copyright, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies. CIPO's mandate is to deliver high quality and timely IP services to customers, and to increase awareness, knowledge and effective use of IP by Canadians.

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