Mitacs partners with Canadian Intellectual Property Office to increase protection, awareness, and use of ideas

Agreement supports industrial and social innovation in small businesses by recognizing value of IP

Vancouver, BC — The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and Mitacs, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to growth and innovation, have formed a strategic partnership that will contribute to the promotion and use of intellectual property (IP) to support industrial and social innovation in Canada.

The protection of intellectual property generated from ideas is important because Canadian businesses need to adopt effective IP strategies in the early stages of formation in order to succeed.

The Mitacs-CIPO partnership commits to increasing awareness, knowledge, and use of IP among small- to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and not-for-profit organizations. The agreement underscores the importance of IP in business development and commits to providing advanced training for the highly skilled research interns and fellows supported by Mitacs funding.

The agreement leads to such opportunities as co-hosting public webinars and investigating the needs of entrepreneurial-minded interns with respect to protecting their IP as well as exploring the intersection of the intellectual property system and the protection of Indigenous knowledge. Through a suite of IP training products and services, CIPO is working to increase the understanding and strategic use of IP among inventors and Canadian businesses, particularly SMEs.

Quotes

Konstantinos Georgaras, CEO (interim) of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office

“CIPO is pleased to have formalized our partnership with Mitacs to further inform and raise awareness of Canadians on the importance of protecting the outputs of innovation, specifically intellectual property (IP), in order to enable Canadian innovators to thrive both nationally and internationally. Through this partnership, we intend to build IP literacy in Canada and promote the strategic use of IP through tailored products, services and training. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Mitacs.”

John Hepburn, CEO and Scientific Director of Mitacs

“This partnership is extremely important for innovation in Canada. It highlights the opportunities to leverage the work CIPO is doing to support Canadian small businesses and to protect traditional knowledge of Indigenous communities. And it also underscores the vital role Mitacs plays in partnering with our federal, provincial, and territorial governments across Canada to support innovation as our economy recovers from COVID-19.”

About CIPO:

• The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is a special operating agency of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
• CIPO delivers intellectual property (IP) services in Canada, and informs and educates Canadians on how to use IP more effectively.
• For more information about CIPO and our programs, please visit our website.

About Mitacs:

• Mitacs is a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from the best academic institutions at home and around the world.
• Mitacs is supported by the Government of Canada along with the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.
• For information about Mitacs and our programs, see mitacs.ca/newsroom.

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