His name is Isaac Pewton, and he is a ChatBot that can provide basic intellectual property (IP) information and assistance with IP-related matters.
Isaac won’t mind, though, if you don’t call him by name, but simply think of him as a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet.
Isaac will be the star of the show this Friday, Jan. 29 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. when the IP Osgoode Innovation Clinic officially launches the AI-powered ChatBot in Intellectual Property at an online celebration via Zoom.
Giuseppina "Pina" D’Agostino
Isaac’s debut represents more than a year of hard work by the Innovation Clinic team under the leadership of IP Osgoode founder and director, Professor Pina D’Agostino, in collaboration with Maya Medeiros and Anthony de Fazekas, Partners at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP and the legal supervisors for the Innovation Clinic, and technical experts in the Legal Technology Group at Norton Rose.
“The IP Innovation ChatBot provides free access to credible IP information in a timely, effective and user-friendly way to foster greater innovation in Canadian society,” D’Agostino says.
“Start-ups, entrepreneurs, and innovators need IP information, but don’t always have the necessary funds and resources. The IP Innovation ChatBot will alleviate some expenses and make vital IP information more accessible.”
D’Agostino said Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) provided funding assistance to develop the IP Innovation ChatBot. “This project supports the Canadian government’s National IP Strategy to increase IP awareness and education by making IP advice more accessible.”
As part of Friday’s launch celebration, there will also be a panel discussion. Nikita Iliushkin, CEO of Skygauge Robotics, the York University student start-up that the IP Innovation Clinic helped on the patent front and which just received $3.3 million in funding, will be among the leaders in Canada’s innovation space who will speak. York Vice-President of Research & Innovation Amir Asif will kick off the event with opening remarks. Innovation York has been one of the IP Innovation Clinic’s founding partners, and would not exist without its “unrelenting support,” D’Agostino noted.
The IP Innovation Clinic is a year-round, needs-based innovation-to-society intellectual property (IP) legal clinic operated in collaboration with Innovation York and supervising law firms Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Bereskin & Parr LLP and Own Innovation. Under the guidance and mentorship of the Clinic Director and supervising lawyers, law students provide one-to-one legal information services (not legal advice) to inventors, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies to assist with the commercialization processes. Through this hands-on practical experience, law students learn about common early-stage IP and business issues facing actors in the innovation ecosystem.
The IP Innovation ChatBot is featured on the IP Osgoode website and can be accessed at the following link: https://www.iposgoode.ca/innovation-clinic-chatbot/.
Registration for the launch event is free and can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ip-innovation-clinic-chatbot-launch-event-tickets-131907235091.