Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Symposium at Osgoode Hall Law School

TORONTO, February 7, 2019 – IP Osgoode, the intellectual property (IP) and technology law program at Osgoode Hall Law School, and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) will co-host the ‘Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Effective Strategies for IP Commercialization and Success’ symposium on Monday, February 11 at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. This unique women entrepreneurship symposium will feature IP experts and accomplished entrepreneurs who will provide attendees with an opportunity to learn more about IP law, best practices for starting a business, and how an IP strategy can contribute to business success. The day will be capped by an afternoon of mentorship breakout sessions and networking opportunities with women entrepreneurs, experts and mentors.

Co-chaired by Osgoode Professor Pina D’Agostino, founder and director of IP Osgoode and the Innovation Clinic, and Darlene Carreau, Director-General, Business Services Branch, CIPO, the symposium will bring together an impressive group of successful women entrepreneurs, business leaders, and IP practitioners who will reflect on their own experiences and mentor the attendees on how to recognize, protect and commercialize their IP.

The symposium features a keynote presentation from Jessica Rawlley, the co-founder of MaaS Pros and TIEIT Inc. Rawlley has been recognized for her outstanding entrepreneurship and contributions to the country’s innovation ecosystem. She is the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year and TIEIT also received the Innovation of the Year award at the same event.

The morning panel, entitled “IP & Commercialization – Protecting and Leveraging Your Most Valuable Assets: You and Your Ideas,” will focus on the importance of having an IP strategy and best practices for leveraging some of the main areas of IP. The panel will also focus on key issues to identify and act on as well as the realities of starting a business. Chaired by D’Agostino, the panel features Darlene Carreau from CIPO, along with Karima Bawa, former Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Research in Motion (Blackberry) and Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation, and Jacqueline (Jackie) Cooper, Chief Revenue Office, Muse.

Following a networking luncheon, attendees will break into smaller groups and circulate through four IP-themed mentorship sessions. These sessions offer an interactive networking opportunity for the participants to ask questions, connect with leading experts and entrepreneurs, and receive mentorship directed at their professional and business goals. The four mentorship session themes are structured around pivotal aspects of the commercialization cycle: 1) IP identification and protection, 2) IP commercialization and strategies, 3) IP and financing, and 4) growing and scaling.

Carreau will be joined by Reshika Dhir, Associate, Bereskin & Parr LLP, and Rita Gao, Lawyer and Patent Agent, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, to discuss how entrepreneurs should recognize the value in their ideas and inventions and protect them via various forms of IP law.

During the IP commercialization and strategies sessions, Karima Bawa will be joined by Allison Hayman, Partner, Cassels Brock, to discuss how IP can be effectively leveraged and commercialized in many ways.

The IP and financing mentorship sessions will give attendees insight into the importance of having and leveraging IP to secure external funding. Michelle Lochan, Regional Innovation Officer, Innovation Canada (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) and Teresa Moore, CPA, CA, Baker Tilly Vaughan LLP, will draw from their experiences in areas such as entrepreneurship and manufacturing to guide attendees forward.

Recognizing the important role that scale-ups play in Canada’s economy, Jackie Cooper and Vanessa Grant, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, will speak to the unique challenges that entrepreneurs and start-ups face as they move towards the scale-up level.

The ‘Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Effective Strategies for IP Commercialization and Success’ symposium continues the efforts of IP Osgoode and CIPO to encourage and empower entrepreneurs across Canada. IP Osgoode and CIPO staff will be on hand to connect with attendees looking to access services and tools such as IP Osgoode’s Innovation Clinic and the CIPO’s new IP Hub.

Founded in 2010, the Innovation Clinic is the largest pro bono IP legal clinic and the first of its kind in Canada. In collaboration with Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP and Bereskin & Parr LLP, the Innovation Clinic provides experiential learning experiences for Osgoode students in the areas of IP and technology law while at the same time providing pro bono one-to-one IP law information and support to inventors, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies in Toronto, York Region, Waterloo Region, and beyond.

CIPO’s IP Awareness and Education Program serves as a one-stop shop that helps connect Canadians with the IP tools, resources and experts they need at every stage of their IP commercialization journey.

The symposium is free of charge and open to all members of the York University community and anyone interested in learning more about IP law and the role of IP in commercial success.

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About IP Osgoode
Conceptualized & founded in 2008 by Professor Giuseppina D’Agostino, IP Osgoode, the Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Technology Program at Osgoode Hall Law School, is an independent and authoritative voice which explores legal governance issues at the intersection of intellectual property and technology. IP Osgoode cultivates interdisciplinary, comparative and transnational research, collaboration, policy-thinking and practice on the basis of a tight connection between teaching, research and clinical action. IP Osgoode has put Osgoode and York University on the map in the global IP debate. We aim to influence the IP debate in Canada and internationally by educating our students and collaborating with the IP community in Canada and worldwide. Together, we have built an innovative program that is cutting-edge and completely unique to Osgoode.

About York University

York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.
York U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

About CIPO
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is a Special Operating Agency (SOA) of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). CIPO is responsible for the administration and processing of the greater part of intellectual property (IP) in Canada. CIPO's areas of activity include trademarks, patents, copyright, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies. CIPO's mandate is to deliver high quality and timely IP services to customers, and to increase awareness, knowledge and effective use of IP by Canadians.

Media Contacts:

Virginia Corner, Communications Manager, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, 416-736-5820, vcorner@osgoode.yorku.ca
Gloria Suhasini, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22094, suhasini@yorku.ca