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I participated in Osgoode’s Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Technology Intensive Program (IP Intensive). The IP Intensive is designed to be great for both students who are extremely familiar with IP and those who have an interest in IP and are looking for a chance to gain more practical experience. There are multiple parts to the intensive, the largest component being the IP Intensive is a 10-week placement at a company or government organization that actively practices IP law. I was placed at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) in the Policy, International Affairs, and Research Office (PIRO). Meaning after the initial 2-week seminar series I was off to Ottawa to work out of the CIPO main office.  

What is PIRO?  

When I arrived in Ottawa, I did not know what to expect, as all I knew was that CIPO ran the Patents, Trademark, Industrial Design, and Copyright offices and aided in policy making. I learnt that PIRO provides guidance, advice, and representation on policy, regulatory, international, and economic issues to both CIPO’s Executive and Senior Management and the Deputy Minister and Minister of Innovation Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada. I was surprised to learn how much work and how many teams are involved in achieving these tasks. PIRO is divided into three teams 1) the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Office (PRAO), 2) the International Relations Office (IRO), and 3) the Economic Research and Strategic Analysis Unit. 

The PRAO contributes to the overall goals of CIPO by working towards IP regulatory modernization, preparing background and IP policy documents, monitoring and analyzing transformative technologies, assisting in developing presentation and briefing materials, and supporting stakeholder engagement. The IRO contributes to the overall goals of CIPO by establishing and maintaining relationships with key international stakeholders, supporting multilateral and regional cooperation, coordinating technical assistance and training activities, and representing Canada’s IP interests on a global stage. Lastly, The Economic Research and Strategic Analysis Unit acts as CIPO’s centre of expertise for IP data and collaborates with other government departments and think tanks to build an evidence base for IP policy decision-making.  

My Experience 

When I first heard I was being placed with CIPO I was unsure what my placement would entail. I figured there would be a lot of research, but my experience and the knowledge I gained exceeded all my expectations. As would be expected based on the type of work PIRO does a lot of my time was spent researching IP topics in areas of emerging technology. However, I also learnt a lot about and received extra training through CIPO on government procedures and all the different considerations that go into law-making and advising policymakers.  

The 2-week seminar to start the semester was great because I started the intensive having taken Patents and Copyright but not Trademarks, and after those two weeks I was primed with enough knowledge about Trademarks to start my placement with a well-rounded IP knowledge base. The first 2-weeks also introduced a variety of IP topics and career paths that I had not considered before the intensive. The program coordinator and the professors did an amazing job of bringing in a wide range of people who covered and were experts in a broad scope of IP sectors.  

The Work  

During my time with PIRO, the work I was asked to complete included a variety of different tasks of different scales. There were some small tasks such as short email responses to specific questions or a request to review a slide deck before it was presented. However, there were also some much larger tasks that I was asked to complete, mainly in the form of reports on emerging areas of concern or interest for CIPO. I found these reports to be a unique approach to legal work as it was not necessarily about finding the right answer it was about finding all the answers, representing all the perspectives, and explaining why all the answers could be right and all the answers could be wrong. I want to conclude by thanking my supervisor at PIRO, Shawn Tippins, for all his support, for taking the time to teach me how to work and prepare reports in this form, and for making sure that I was being exposed to a variety of IP topics in the form of meaningful work projects.