Through awareness and education, CIPO helps Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs leverage their IP. Over the past year, we expanded our digital offerings and developed new resources with our partners to target high-growth, export-ready and high-potential SMEs in key growth sectors and under-represented groups.
Improving IP literacy
In 2019–2020, CIPO held more than 120 seminars and webinars—attended by more than 1,400 participants—on a range of topics such as IP foundations, IP strategy, IP commercialization and the protection of IP in other countries. Leveraging the expertise of our partners, we also developed new seminars on IP enforcement with the Canadian Bar Association, on IP and traditional knowledge and cultural expressions with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and on the interoperability between IP and standards with the Standards Council of Canada. We also collaborated with Sustainable Development Technology Canada and co-developed IP information on the expedited process for clean technology patent applications and on the differences between patents and trade secrets.
Furthermore, we worked with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to launch 2 new resources—a fact sheet and a roadmap—on plant breeders' rights (PBR). Finally, we collaborated with the Institut de médiation et d'arbitrage du Québec and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada to develop content on alternative dispute resolution.
Building on the success of our existing IP seminars and webinars, we launched an e-learning series to provide core knowledge on the different types of IP rights. Canadian businesses and innovators now have access to engaging and on-demand information about patents, trademarks, industrial designs and copyright. Additionally, to help SMEs and innovators better understand IP and incorporate it into their business strategy, we launched a new, content-rich online IP strategy assessment tool that provides users with access to a tailored guide to what they should consider when developing their IP strategy.
We added a number of new tools to CIPO's IP Toolbox, including "Doing business abroad" guides for Australia, Japan and Mexico, a fact sheet on IP and clean technologies, and the aforementioned fact sheet and roadmap for PBR. We also added new online resources on IP asset management, IP valuation and alternative dispute resolution.
Looking to export? CIPO launched 3 new guides for Australia, Japan and Mexico as part of the "Doing business abroad" series on our IP Toolbox web page.
These guides contain a wealth of information, tips and links to help entrepreneurs secure their IP rights in foreign countries.
Raising IP awareness through partnerships
Through more than 50 partnerships and collaborations with federal and provincial governments, business associations, incubators, intermediaries and academia, CIPO's IP awareness and education program promotes the strategic use of IP among SMEs in key growth sectors. In 2019–2020, we signed MOUs with long-standing collaborators, including Global Affairs Canada's Trade Commissioner Service and Startup Canada. We also formalized new collaborations with Corporations Canada, the Department of National Defence, the Standards Council of Canada and Natural Resources Canada.
Reach for Gold: IP and Sport
As part of World IP Day, CIPO hosted a panel and networking reception in the National Capital Region, where partners, stakeholders and IP leaders discussed the importance of IP in sports—an economic sector with global reach.
Panelist Blaine Hoshizaki, Director of the Neurotrauma Impact Science Laboratory at the University of Ottawa, speaks about IP and sports.
As part of an ongoing effort to expand our presence in innovation-focused networks, CIPO participated in more than 375 events across Canada, consisting of conferences, trade shows and training events such as seminars and webinars. We also met one-on-one with more than 850 entrepreneurs to answer their IP questions and provide tailored IP resources.
CIPO also participated in 2 workshops for Indigenous peoples: the Practical Workshop on Intellectual Property, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions for Countries from the Arctic Region, held in Iqaluit and organized by WIPO and the Government of Canada; and the Workshop on Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions, and Intellectual Property held in Montréal and organized by McGill University's Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and ISED.
In partnership with Global Affairs Canada, we participated in the United Nations' Girls in ICT Day event, "Driving female entrepreneurship and social impact through Information and Communications Technology," where more than 150 young women learned about IP. We also participated in 2 International Women's Day activities organized by Startup Canada and the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce.
We also worked actively to train our partner organizations' staff on IP and the important role IP plays in today's knowledge-based economy. We held more than 22 training sessions and, in the process, trained more than 650 intermediaries who directly support innovative SMEs. Organizations that received the training include ISED (Innovation Superclusters Initiative, Economic Strategy Tables), the National Research Council of Canada (Industrial Research Assistance Program), the Department of National Defence (Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security [IDEaS] program), the Standards Council of Canada and Global Affairs Canada (Trade Commissioner Service).
To further our reach, we embedded our IP tools and resources on the digital platforms and websites of our partners and collaborators, including Global Affairs Canada's Trade Commissioner Service, Innovation Canada, the provincial governments of Ontario and Quebec, the Centre for Global Enterprise, IP Osgoode and the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association.