The third round table was organized by the International Law Research Program (ILRP) of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science, and the Ministry of Economic Development and Growth. Solutions-oriented, its objective was to identify and formulate workable approaches to Ontario’s intellectual property (IP) strategy. Against this background, the round table brought together experts in the field of IP management, the practice of IP law, policy makers, leading academics and IP entrepreneurs from Ontario’s universities, government and business sectors. The round table examined the essential building blocks of a domestic IP strategy and the possible mechanisms to support a strong knowledge-based economy tailored to Ontario’s and Canada’s socioeconomic, legal and political infrastructure.
Four essential pillars of an IP strategy were identified, and several mechanisms aimed at addressing these key challenges were discussed and evaluated:
- IP commercialization strategy;
- technology transfer at universities;
- IP awareness and outreach; and
- access to IP legal services.
