It is said that a problem shared is a problem halved. Is it possible that innovation shared could mean innovation doubled? If one looks to economic theory to justify IP, the underlying purpose of IP appears to be the promotion of advancements in science and useful arts- by protecting the creator’s rights the law provides […]
Today the Conference Board of Canada gave Canada another "D" grade for innovation. As indicated on the Board website, Canada is at the back of the class. As last year, where Canada also got a "D" grade, this should be another alarming call to government, industry, and members of the public that we need to do our homework. […]
Suppose there are two researchers, X and Y, who separately study the same thing, say, new energy. X wants a patent right for a financial gain while Y wants to make his results freely accessible to the public. Unfortunately, X comes up with a result one day before Y. Now, people have to pay for […]
Let’s say I want to sublet my on-campus room for the summer. I’m paying $1,000/month. Because staying on campus is extremely convenient for whatever reason, but it is difficult to find a place, someone proposed me $1,200/month for the sublet, while others proposed less than $1,000/month. Which offer should I choose? And, if there is […]
Under Canadian patent law, the scope of patentable subject matter is still expanding. But under U.S. patent law, “anything under the sun made by man” is patentable. This has come to include patents for computer software. Software patents raise a debate over which algorithms are novel, and which are non-obvious. Some algorithms may arguably have […]
In its Strategic Plan published in 2006, Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation called for the generation of an “innovation culture” in Ontario with one goal of increasing the commercialization of research taking place at universities. I could not help but think of my own experience as a grad student in a cell biology research […]