Demand is high, but the $90 million program is set to expire this spring.
Several Canadian startup support organizations are calling on the federal government to renew an intellectual property (IP) program that could expire in the spring.
“Intellectual property is so important. Demand is so high that we could double the funding.”
Sonya Shorey, Invest Ottawa
The ElevateIP program aims to help startups register patents and develop an intellectual property strategy to keep innovation and invention in Canada. Launched in Federal budget for 2021ElevateIP is managed by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), which developed a national intellectual property strategy in 2018. ElevateIP was allocated $90 million in 2022 and expires in March 2026.
The seven organizations across the country that work together to implement the program have sent a letter to the federal government asking for another $90 million in funding for the “next generation” ElevateIP program through 2030. These organizations are Invest Ottawa, New Ventures BC, Innovate Calgary of the University of Calgary, North Forge of Winnipeg, Communitech of Kitchener-Waterloo, Movement for Accelerating Innovation in Quebec. (MAIN) and Springboard Atlantic. In the Ottawa region and Eastern Ontario, Invest Ottawa is also leading delivery along with the Launch Lab in Kingston and the Spark Center in Durham Region.
Sonya Shorey, CEO of Invest Ottawa and program lead for the program's renewal, told BetaKit that demand for the program in her region is “insatiable.” She said the organization had to redirect some of its marketing and operating dollars to ElevateIP to ensure there were enough grants for founders. Alberta version of the program closed applications in June “due to huge demand.”
“Intellectual property is critical,” Shorey said. “The demand is so high that we could double the funding.”
The Logic reports that Elevate IP is among more than a dozen innovative programs introduced under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. expires this spring. Prime Minister Mark Carney instructed every federal minister with looking for areas to cut from their budgets. First federal budget under Carney due in October; consultations ended on 3 September.
Shorey says the release of funding towards the end of 2022 meant the program was up and running in 2023. The letter's authors claim that ElevateIP has recruited more than 9,000 startups, developed more than 800 intellectual property strategies, and helped startups file more than 1,600 new intellectual property applications. They argue that Canada should continue to support the program to ensure that intellectual property related to quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and defense technologies remains in the country.
ElevateIP offers three levels of program support—training, strategy, and implementation—through which startups can receive a total of up to $100,000 in grants. Once a client startup receives an educational textbook, usually for free, it can develop an intellectual property strategy with an advisor and service provider with up to $25,000 in funding. The third level involves implementing an IP strategy, for example by registering patents or trademarks.
According to federal law, filing a Canadian application can cost between $5,000 and $20,000, not including potential consulting or legal fees. Toolkit for running MaRS. Many startups also want to protect their intellectual property internationally, which makes it more difficult.
Guillaume Lajoie, communications and public affairs manager at MAIN, said that even if the smaller funding was renewed, it would be a win for the startups they serve.
“Thousands of startups understand the importance of protecting intellectual property, and canceling the program now leaves them without support at a critical time,” Communitech CEO Sheldon McCormick wrote in an email to BetaKit.
Startups that have used the program include Victoria, British Columbia-based cancer drug testing platform VoxCell BioInnovation and Ottawa-based defense technology startup Tactiql.
Michael Nelson, CEO and founder of Tactiql, told BetaKit that ElevateIP's services covered most of the legal fees associated with the patents. The company develops software that collects and centralizes data from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors during military operations.
Nelson called maintaining intellectual property “a fundamental requirement to compete” with companies in other countries. Last month Tactiql was selected as one of two Canadian companies for the NATO Defense Innovation Accelerator in the North Atlantic (DIANA).
Demonstrating an intellectual property strategy is an important part of applying to programs such as DIANA, as well as grants and agreements with the Canadian government, Nelson added.
Similar programs exist across Canada, including the National Research Council of Canada. IP help and the provincial Intellectual Property Ontario program. However, the letter's authors claim that this support is “fragmented” and ElevateIP fills “critical gaps.”
Beyond accelerators, “investors are increasingly looking for intellectual property as part of their due diligence,” Shorey said. Research by Taorui Guan, associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, found that intellectual property protection can reduce the risk of investor losses and establish clearer ownership rights if the startup fails.
Performance Potential
Prominent business leaders and organizations cite intellectual property protection as key to increasing Canada's economic productivity.
The level of intellectual property protection, as measured by the number of patents filed, has remained roughly unchanged in Canada over the past 10 years, according to the latest report Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Patent and trademark applications fell by six percent and three percent in 2023, respectively.
Former BlackBerry co-CEO Jim Balsillie repeatedly argued that encouraging the preservation of sovereign intellectual property is part of the solution to Canada's problem. performance problems. One Boston University study found that Canadians “patent paradox“, where productivity does not match patent growth, may be due to foreign ownership of patents.
Economist Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Canadian Center for Innovation and Competitiveness, noted that Canada has a trade deficit on intellectual property (paying more for foreign licenses, such as software, than it receives for its own intellectual property). However, he believes that the surplus, like in the United States, will be only three percent of Canadian GDPor “barely enough to improve productivity.”
Additionally, ElevateIP campaigners argue that intellectual property is now central to Canadian sovereignty as the country seeks to become less dependent on the US after trade war and threats of annexation. According to McCormick, this is especially important when it comes to developing AI, quantum and dual-use technologies.
“Canada has a habit of letting its best ideas leave the country, and we can't let that continue,” McCormick said.
Image courtesy of Benoit Debe.
