Who Are We?

The CIPP’s mission is to advance research and policy formation of intellectual property and innovation systems.

To achieve this mission the CIPP focuses on three interconnected priority areas:

• The CIPP carries out interdisciplinary research to understand the role of intellectual property policies and rules in contributing to creativity and innovation. In particular, the Centre examines if and how intellectual property contributes to broad social goals such as increased health, cultural development, access to information and economic growth.
• The CIPP enhances understanding of intellectual property and innovation systems among students at McGill University at the undergraduate, graduate and executive level, as well as within the community.
• The CIPP disseminates its research through workshops and conferences.

News

— Second edition of the Competition and Innovation colloquium series, led by Professor P.-E. Moyse: Canned knowledge: Non-compete agreements and labor mobility of highly skilled employees in innovation industries
More »

— VALGEN Doctoral Thesis Fellowships and Post Doctoral Fellowships - Call for applications

A group of Canadian scholars has created Value Addition Through Genomics and GE³LS (VALGEN), a Genome Canada project managed by Genome Prairie. VALGEN is one of 12 projects supported by Genome Canada’s competition in Applied Genomics Research in Bioproducts or Crops (ABC).
VALGEN responds to the deep governance challenges and opportunities of applied genomics for bioproducts and crops through research and knowledge mobilization on the core issues of intellectual property management, regulation and governance and democratic engagement. VALGEN adds value to genomics science and integrated GE³LS projects through a number of mechanisms – formal networking, identification of overlaps and gaps in the collective research activities of integrated GE³LS, communications, coordination of partnerships, and new researcher mobility programs. Spanning disciplines and institutions, VALGEN fosters national and international collaboration and partnerships.
Up to six doctoral thesis fellowships and three postdoctoral fellowships will be awarded in the three major research areas of VALGEN: (1) intellectual property management, (2) regulation and governance, and (3) democratic engagement. Fellowships will be located in one or more of the following institutions: University of Saskatchewan, University of Ottawa, University of British Columbia, University of Regina, McGill University, University of Calgary, Laval University, the University of Western Ontario, or other universities in the VALGEN network.

Eligibility

Doctoral Thesis Fellows – PhD students in GE³LS or cognate disciplines at Canadian universities and Canadian PhD students at non-Canadian universities, at or reaching the thesis stage prior to disbursement of funds. VALGEN Doctoral Thesis Fellows will be required to write a doctoral thesis on one of the three major VALGEN research themes.

Postdoctoral Fellows must have a PhD completed prior to taking up a postdoctoral appointment with VALGEN, with the exception of candidates in Law who may hold the LLM or equivalent graduate degree in law. Candidates’ disciplinary backgrounds are of less importance than demonstrable preparation for high quality research in our specified areas, including evidence of experience in interdisciplinary research questions, teams, methods and knowledge mobilization to diverse readers and end-users.
Successful candidates will have excellent oral and written communication skills in English, superior organizational skills and demonstrated capacity to adapt as research questions and programs evolve. Doctoral and postdoctoral fellows will be required to work on milestone-driven activities under one of the three major VALGEN research themes.

Funding

Doctoral Thesis Fellowships are valued at $20,000 per annum, renewable for a maximum of two years of funding, conditional on satisfactory progress.

Postdoctoral Fellowships are paid the prevailing Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada postdoctoral salary. They are offered for a renewable one year term, conditional on satisfactory progress, and may be eligible for conversion to a Research Associate position.

For More Information and to Apply:
An application consisting of a detailed cover letter and C.V. must be submitted by December 1, 2009.
Submit applications to: Kari Doerksen, University of Saskatchewan, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, 101 Diefenbaker Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B8 or to kdoerksen@genomeprairie.ca.

For more information please consult www.genomecanada.ca and www.valgen.ca.
More »

— Innovative to Abuse? Report of the October 29, 2008 colloquium is now online.
More »

— Launching: Myth & Metaphors of Private Law and IP website
More »

— Call for papers - Lex Non Scripta, Ars Non Scripta: a conference on law, justice, and improvisation, Montreal June 19 and 20 2009
More »

— Innovative to Abuse? Powerpoint presentations

— Is eCommerce Law different? Videos of the conference are now online!
More »

— The International Expert Group on Biotechnology, Innovation and Intellectual Property released its findings on September 9, 2008. One of the principal conclusions of the International Expert Group was the need to create an honest, independent broker to provide training, advice and mediation in the area of intellectual property. This has led to the creation of The Innovation Partnership (TIP), a non-profit consulting firm based in Montreal but with experts from around the world, to meet this need. The findings will be disseminated through TIP. To access findings and documents on the TIP site, click here.
More »

— Richard Gold led a team of experts from The Innovation Partnership, a non-profit IP consultancy firm, in providing UNITAID with a preliminary review of the legal feasibility of establishing a Medicines Patent Pool targeted at HIV/AIDS anti-retroviral medicines. The Report is available below.
More »

IP 2.0

IP 2.0 is a collaboration between the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and the Faculty of Law’s student IP club, RIPP. The blog provides a forum in which both students (and professors) can discuss their thoughts, ideas and visions relating to all aspects of IP. By focusing on our students, we hope to accommodate fresh perspectives and engender rich debate.

Press Information & Contacts

Visit our Press Room for more information.

IP News This Week

— Google revises Books settlement with limits on foreign works, fiduciary scheme for orphan works and new pricing provisions; critics dismiss as “sleight of hand”

— Bad day for business patents as SCOTUS justices ridicule legal arguments; incredulous Scalia asks if Horse Whisperer methods should be patentable

— Likelihood of confusion? Porsche targets Crocs with trademark action for christening new line of ugly plastic shoes with same name as luxury sports car model
More »

To receive IP News This Week by email subscribe here.

Quarterly Newsletter

To read CIPP's latest Quarterly Newsletter click here. To receive the Quarterly Newsletter by email subscribe here.