Canadian IP voices

Anthony Parker, Commissioner of the Plant Breeders' Rights Office within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, explains the development of plant breeders' rights, how they are examined and how they function in Canada. Explore online: Plant Breeders' Rights... What are they? Plant Breeders' Rights Office

Julie MacDonell, Co-founder and CEO of Haloo discusses the importance of trademarks and how artificial intelligence is used at Haloo to partially replace manual searching in the trademark registration application process. Explore online: Learn more about trademarks and what the rules are concerning what can and cannot be registered at  www.cipo.gc.ca/tm-guide

Mark Weber, director of Innovation and Partnerships at McGill University, explains why and how a university manages intellectual property.   Explore online: McGill University’s Guide for Faculty Inventors  

Jules Gaudin , of ROBIC, explains some of the pitfalls and best practices for users and providers of open source software. Explore online: Choosing a licence : Information on the most common open source licences, to help you decide on the best type of licence for your project. Snyk : Tool to help you find and fix vulnerabilities in the code of your open source content. Open source guides : Guides...

Artificial Intelligence experts and in-house counsels Paul Gagnon and Misha Benjamin talk about the rights and limitations of IP protection for data used in the creation of artificial intelligence systems. Explore online: Towards Standardization of Data Licenses : The Montreal Data License, a scholarly paper providing a taxonomy for the licensing of data in the fields of artificial intelligence an...

Nigel Russell, policy analyst and CyberSecure Canada advisor, explains the importance of understanding cyber security and the steps you can take to keep your digital intellectual property safe. Explore online: CyberSecure Canada : How to get certified, e-learning modules, online self-assessment. Canadian Centre for Cyber Security : Toolkits on cyber security, small business guides to cyber securit...

Beatrice Sze, patent examiner at CIPO, explains the cornerstones of patents and what you need to know if you’re considering filing a patent application. Explore online: Learn more about patents .

Explore online: Learn about IP in our online Discover IP and use this checklist to explore the identify your own IP .  CIPO's IP advisors help SMEs and entrepreneurs understand the strategic value of their IP and can provide information and guidance for developing their business’s IP strategy.

James Leacock , Director of Royalty Collections at Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SO CAN) explains how music composers and performers are paid and the steps to take to play music in online or in a business venue.  Explore online:  Visit SOCAN (collects/distributes royalties for music creators and visual artists)  Entandem (licensing of on-site music use) 

Catherine Lemay , assistant general counsel-IP at Hexo reveals how various IP rights are used in an industry that was created over night and also things to consider if you have an invention you think may be worth something.  Explore online: Educate yourself about IP and how to use it effectively .

Marie-Claude Gagnon, patent examiner at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office explains the examination process and why it is important to disclose the right amount of information at the start of the application process. Explore online: Find an IP Agent  . Work at CIPO

A copyright lawyer at  Bereskin & Parr LLP explains some of the complexities of copyright and sharing content on social media as well as ways to minimize the risk of infringing someone else’s copyright. Explore online: Learn more about copyright

Darpan Patel, technical illustrator and former patent draftsman, explains the work involved in creating illustrations of designs and inventions. Explore online:  Search the patent database  to view patents with illustrations

Lawyer Lorne Lipkus talks about the multi-faceted problems with pirate copies and what you can do to stop them. Professionals, parents and kids – we’re all involved.  Explore online:  Report  illegal activities to Crimestoppers  or contact the  Canadian Anti-fraud Centre

Lawyer and trademark agent Michael Shortt explains the IP rights and associated contracts that form the cornerstones in the videogaming industry and some of the related laws and rights that videogames should be aware of.    Explore online: Video and computer games industry blog posts and bulletins from Michael and colleagues.  To learn more about videogame publishing contracts, you can watch Mr. S...

Patent and trademark agent Louis Martineau explains what IP agents help their clients with and answers some of the most common questions he gets as he helps his clients file for IP protection.  Explore online:  Intellectual Property Institute of Canada  and  Meeting with an IP Professional 

Becky Illson-Skinner , senior program advisor and program and policy lead for the Intellectual Property Rights Program at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), explains how the CBSA helps IP rights holders stop counterfeit products at the Canadian border.    Explore online: File a request for assistance with the CBSA

Mary Beth Westmoreland , Amazon's VP of Brand Protection, talks about what Amazon does to protect sellers and their IP against bad actors online and what new sellers need to know before they start selling their products online on amazon.ca.    Explore online:  Protect your IP in Amazon stores

Todd Bailey , Chief IP Officer at the Scale AI supercluster reflects on some of the challenges and solutions related to IP protection in Canada’s artificial intelligence ecosystem.    Explore online: Check out Todd’s blog IP without Jargon for some straight talk and steps on protecting IP