Ashley Moniz is the Managing Editor of the IPilogue and the Assistant Director of IP Osgoode.

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On October 15, 2008, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, IP Osgoode was officially launched. Known as Osgoode Hall Law School’s Intellectual Property Law and Technology Program, Prof. Pina D’Agostino set out to create a program that would lead IP law discourse, foster a vibrant community whose members are welcome to share broad perspectives, and diversify the IP innovation ecosystem. Now, 13 years later, IP Osgoode and the IP Innovation Clinic are still forging new paths and relationships in the IP community.

Here are a few noteworthy accomplishments from the past year:

IP Osgoode

• Runners-Up at the Oxford IP Moot: in March 2021, for the first time. Under Prof. D’Agostino and Prof. David Vaver’s academic supervision and expert coaching from lawyers at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP and Deeth Williams Wall LLP, our team placed second after an incredible showing and very close competition, winning the Kirkland & Ellis Runner-Up Prize for Oral Proceedings in the process.
• Leading Legal Disruption Published: in May 2021, . The book, titled Leading Legal Disruption: Artificial Intelligence and a Toolkit for Lawyers and the Law, was co-edited by Dr. Aviv Gaon of IDC Herzliya and Carole Piovesan of INQ Law.
• Two Bracing for Impact Webinars: IP Osgoode collaborated with the Harry Radzyner Law School at the IDC Herzliya and Microsoft Canada to present two new webinars in our Bracing for Impact Event Series: “” in and “” in , the latter being also in collaboration with Alectra’s GRE&T Centre. The webinars featured speakers from around the world and drew in almost 250 spectators between them.
• First Virtual Trademark Hearing: thanks to the Honourable Justice Michael Manson of the Federal Court of Canada, over 70 Osgoode students and faculty members virtually attended the .
• IPilogue’s Return to Daily Publishing: under a new structure, the has returned to publishing daily blog articles written by our dedicated team of IPilogue Writers. Almost 270 articles have been published over the past year alone, more than 120 more than the previous year. We continue to receive and publish guest submissions from students, academics, lawyers, and members of our as well.

IP Innovation Clinic

• IP Innovation ChatBot Launched: The IP Innovation Clinic officially launched its through a . Developed with assistance and support from Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, CIPO, and ISED Canada, the AI-backed ChatBot provides accurate and reliable IP law information for free on our website. Thanks to further funding from ISED through the National IP Strategy, we look forward to continuing to expand the breadth of the ChatBot’s impact and better reach and assist members of underrepresented communities in the IP Innovation ecosystem.
• Mitacs-funded Business Strategy Internships: in March 2021, . The IP Innovation Clinic placed 3 Clinic Fellows with businesses pivoting their operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prof. D’Agostino was also featured in the marking the official launch of the program.
• Clinic Clients Secured Millions in Funding: two IP Innovation Clinic clients leveraged IP information from our Clinic Fellows to massive expansions of their business. to develop their drone technology and for their sustainable clothing brand.
• First LPP Candidate: during the Winter 2021 Term, under the supervision of IP Osgoode alumnus Reshika Dhir of Bereskin & Parr LLP, the IP Innovation Clinic . We look forward to welcoming two new LPP candidates in Winter 2022.
• The IP Lunch Club Continues: for the second year in a row, and in collaboration with the City of Barrie Sandbox Centre, Prof. D’Agostino’s Directed Reading: IP Innovation Program students presented , educating local entrepreneurs and innovators about registering and commercializing IP rights. Many attendees from these webinars go on to engage the IP Innovation Clinic for IP and commercialization assistance.

As always, we are grateful to all of the students, faculty, partners, and our Advisory Board for making this past year as great a success as it was. None of the above accomplishments would have happened if not for their passion, dedication, and hard work. As we welcome new students and continue to seek out more involvement, we look forward to another wonderful year and welcome new students and partnerships who can help us grow to even greater heights.

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In addition to incorporating theoretical concepts of IP in engineering programs’ curricula, educators should also consider teaching students how to review publicly-accessible prior art documents. Learning to engage in prior art review will benefit engineers in two ways. First, since are granted to improvements made to already-patented inventions, engineers will be able to utilize knowledge about existing technologies in order to further innovate as opposed to investing resources into recreating old inventions. Second, learning how to access and review prior art documents in the early stages of their education will equip them with tools to avoid committing IP infringements in the future. Although engineering students tend to gain some insight into their IP rights and the patenting process during their capstone projects, they are often not adequately prepared to deal with the challenges of IP commercialization. To address this issue, a group of academics in Indiana University proposed the . The goal of the project was to bolster engineering students’ understanding of IP law through a set of elective courses that would count towards their degrees. The project also proposed interdisciplinary collaborations between STEM and law students to create a mutually educational experience for both sets of students in the area of patent law. At żě˛ĄĘÓƵ, the success of in through a collaboration between the at the Lassonde School of Engineering and the is a testament to the fruitfulness of these kinds of collaborations.

Incorporating IP education in engineering programs’ curricula will require significant investment of resources by Canadian universities. However, since a large portion of patent applications filed with CIPO seek to protect engineers’ inventions, empowering engineers-in-training by providing IP education and setting them up for future commercial success will be a worthwhile investment.

Written by Bonnie Hassanzadeh, JD Candidate 2022, enrolled in Professor D'Agostino's Directed Reading: IP Innovation Clinic course at Osgoode Hall Law School. As part of the course requirements, students were asked to write a blog on a topic of their choice.Ěý

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, Founder and Director of IP Osgoode, opened the event by highlighting the ’s success throughout its years in making IP information more accessible and elevating diverse voices in the IP and innovation space. Professor D’Agostino laid out the event agenda, introduced the exceptional team behind the , and the for the Launch Event.

Following Professor D’Agostino’s remarks, , Vice President of Research and Innovation at żě˛ĄĘÓƵ, provided land acknowledgements and highlighted żě˛ĄĘÓƵ’s commitment to welcoming diverse voices to the academic space. Dr. Asif echoed the importance of making credible IP knowledge more accessible through tools such as the IP Innovation Clinic ChatBot.

, Associate Director at Lab introduced , Co-Founder & CEO of . Nikita’s inspiring story of turning his vision into reality, with the help of the BEST Lab, the IP Osgoode Innovation Clinic, and the Schulich School of Business, is a testament to the remarkable achievements that are possible through collaboration. Nikita, alongside his partner at Skygauge Robotics, , used BEST Lab resources to invent and develop a drone which uses ultra-sound technology to inspect metal structures. aims to provide a safe, efficient, and cost-effective way to inspect metal structures. With the help of the IP Innovation Clinic, Nikita and Skygauge patented their invention.

After Nikita’s presentation, it was time for the demo. The ChatBot was developed through the efforts of , Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Senior Innovation Lawyer at Norton Rose, , JD Candidate and IP Innovation Clinic Coordinator, and at IP Osgoode. Al Hounsell provided a primer on artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can be utilized to deliver legal information to clients, innovators, and entrepreneurs. The can be classified as a rules-and-pattern-based AI system because it derives its baseline system of rules from information fed to it by legal experts. The ChatBot gets “smarter” by identifying patterns in its users’ input. The ChatBot identifies two key components form these patterns: intents and entities. Intents are what the ChatBot users intend to derive from the questions they ask. Entities modify intents in an AI-based system. In the context of the ChatBot, as Ryan demonstrated in the demo, entities can be defined as the alternative ways in which a question can be asked. As a result, the more familiar the ChatBot becomes with different iterations of a question, the more intelligent and competent it becomes.

The final portion of the event was a thoughtful panel discussion moderated by Osgoode Hall Law School about navigating the IP and innovation ecosystem. The came from different sectors in the IP and innovation space. Each one brought a valuable perspective on the pressing IP and innovation issues that Canada and the world face, including economic growth, accessibility, and elevating diverse voices . A common theme running through the panel discussion was the importance of creating an inclusive and accessible environment for Canadian innovators of all backgrounds to flourish; and elevating voices from underserved communities who have been left out of the conversation for too long.

The deepened my understanding of how AI can easily, accessibly, and cost-effectively deliver information to users. Intellectual property assets are often a business’s first and most valuable assets, especially in its early stages. However, many innovators cannot access legal advice about their IP rights so early on in their business. I hope that free and user-friendly tools, such as the , can alleviate some of the barriers that currently halt innovation.

For more information and a full recording of the ChatBot Launch Event, click

Written by Bonnie Hassanzadeh, IPilogue Editor and Clinic Fellow at Osgoode Innovation Clinic.

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