{"id":39703,"date":"2022-06-17T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iposgoode.ca\/?p=39703"},"modified":"2022-06-17T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T16:00:00","slug":"promoting-ip-awareness-through-mandatory-modules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2022\/06\/17\/promoting-ip-awareness-through-mandatory-modules\/","title":{"rendered":"Promoting IP Awareness Through Mandatory Modules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"\"Jaime Zorrilla is an IP Innovation Clinic Fellow and a 2L JD\/MBA Student at Osgoode Hall Law School & the Schulich School of Business. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D\u2019Agostino\u2019s Directed Reading: IP Innovation Program course.<\/em><\/p>\n

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After inviting public and stakeholder feedback in 2020, the Ontario Government commissioned the Report by the Expert Panel on Intellectual Property<\/a>. The Report found significant deficits in IP related outcomes. While the Ontario government has introduced courses to raise IP awareness, making these courses at least partially mandatory might better address the Panel\u2019s Recommendations.<\/p>\n

The report identified several issues in Ontario\u2019s attempt to become a hub for IP creation. Patents filed by researchers with at least one Canadian inventor are assigned to firms outside of Canada or to foreign subsidiaries operating within Canada.<\/a> Further, of the patents that are assigned to Canadian inventors, a significant percentage are subsequently assigned to foreign entities. Fostering even more IP creation has become a focus of the Ontario Government.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, the province has taken meaningful steps to address these deficits in education and governance contexts. Notably, the Expert Panel\u2019s recommendations included a call for a standardized, free, or low cost, web-based IP education curriculum<\/a>. The Ontario Government has worked with the University of Toronto and the Centre for International Governance Innovation to launch two IP courses<\/a>. Missing, however, is the second part of the Expert Panel\u2019s recommendations \u2013 that engaging with these modules or curricula be \u201cmandatory for any individual or entity who receives public funds in support of entrepreneurial activities<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, requiring founders to take a course can delay and complicate the launch of a successful venture. Failing a module could play a detrimental role in determining whether a particular venture gets access to additional resources from universities, accelerators or even funding partners. Additionally, the length of such a module could dissuade innovators from seeking out resources or help from these institutions.<\/p>\n

Still, the potential payoffs are significant. The report identified benefits in proliferating IP in the province:<\/p>\n