Intellectual Property

Joël Blit is a CIGI senior fellow researching the topic of innovation, including exploring intellectual property rights, closing Canada’s innovation gap, and the link between Canadian immigration and innovation. Joël is assistant professor of economics at the University of Waterloo, with expertise in the economics of innovation, technology clusters, intellectual property, entrepreneurship, international trade and multinational corporations. 

Senior Fellow Dan Ciuriak joined CIGI’s Global Economy Program in April 2016, focusing on the innovation and trade research theme. At CIGI, Dan is exploring the interface between Canada’s domestic innovation and international trade and investment, including the development of better metrics to assess the impact of Canada’s trade agreements on innovation outcomes. Based in Ottawa, Dan is the director and principal of Ciuriak Consulting, Inc.

Bernard Colas is a senior fellow with CIGI’s International Law Research Program (ILRP), effective August 2016. He is also a partner at CMKZ — Colas Moreira Kazandjian Zikovsky, an international trade and business law firm based in Montreal. 

Dieter Ernst is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), focusing on unresolved challenges for the global governance of trade, intellectual property and innovation.

James W. Hinton is a fellow with the Global Economy Program. His research at CIGI focuses on intellectual property (IP) and innovation. He has worked closely with the Council of Canadian Innovators on Canada’s innovation initiatives and Canada’s national IP strategy.

Olena Ivus is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), focusing on the interface between Canada's domestic innovation and international trade.

Jean-Frédéric Morin is a senior fellow with CIGI’s International Law Research Program (ILRP), effective May 2016. He is also associate professor at Laval University, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in International Political Economy. 

Steven L. Schwarcz is a CIGI senior fellow and the Stanley A. Star Professor of Law & Business at Duke University. At CIGI, Steven leads research on systemic risk and financial regulation, corporate governance of systemically important firms, cross-border resolution measures and sovereign debt restructuring.

A practising lawyer, Aaron Shull is CIGI’s managing director and general counsel. In addition to advising on a range of domestic legal and corporate matters, he has substantive expertise in international law, global security and internet governance.

Myra J. Tawfik is a senior fellow at CIGI, where she leads a project that explores strategies for capacity building in IP literacy, IP strategy and cost-effective IP legal services for start-ups and entrepreneurs. This project also sets out models and best practices for comprehensive IP literacy within the public sector entrepreneurial support system. She is the co-creator (with Karima Bawa) of the CIGI Massive Open Online Course, “Foundations of IP Strategy.” A book on the subject of IP strategy for innovators, co-authored with Karima Bawa, will be published in summer 2019.