About IP Osgoode
IP Osgoode at Osgoode Hall Law School is an independent and authoritative voice which explores legal governance issues at the intersection of intellectual property (IP) and technology. In the context of a globalizing legal pluralist landscape, IP Osgoode cultivates interdisciplinary, comparative and transnational research, collaboration, policy-thinking and practice. The program’s researchers and collaborators from the academic, government, business and other networks actively engage in a vibrant Canadian and international debate. Our advisors are leading experts in the legal community and provide the bedrock of support and leadership to the program. Drawing from the best Canadian forces and the program’s global partners, IP Osgoode is involved in some of the most important and cutting-edge IP law and technology related research and policy discussions of today. Among the program’s current target areas are all facets of intellectual property protection and access, privacy, ethics and intersecting areas of the law, from contract, health, labour, Indigenous, environmental, constitutional, corporate and international all within a variety of disciplines, from business, sciences, and the arts.
We aim to provide balanced and objective research, offer new and unexplored viewpoints to public policy discussions which are inclusive of the opinions and interests of a broad range of IP stakeholders (including governments, nongovernmental organizations, the legal community, businesses and the general public) and ultimately, act as a facilitator for the flourishment of a knowledge-based society in Canada.
Our structure is based on a tight connection of teaching and research, which has made us the first choice for students and scholarship in this area of law. We have a wide variety of activities that focus on and address current and important IP issues. We are constantly building networks with industry and academics nationally and internationally, and responding to the needs of stakeholders.
The IPilogue is our award-winning blog featuring analyses and commentary on current pressing intellectual property, technology, privacy and related legal issues. The IPilogue is known for its unbiased, evidence-based discussions and informative presentations of current international intellectual property law news and issues. Blog contributors consist of students from Osgoode and other Canadian and international law schools. We also feature guest blogs by IP experts from around the globe.
The IPilogue has a wide-ranging following in Canada and internationally from government, industry, academia, expert groups and members of the general public.
We keep our global readership on the pulse of the current developments in IP through our weekly e-newsletter, the IPIGRAM.
Our dynamic and diverse series of events includes the IP Osgoode Speaks Series, hackathons, conferences, workshops, panel discussions, book launches and guest lectures, and many more. During the COVID-19 pandemic, IP Osgoode has also expanded its audience by hosting webinars and collaborating on other virtual events.
Some of our events are jointly organized, reflecting collaborations with numerous research centres and organizations within the Osgoode, York University, and beyond.
The rigorous Intellectual Property Law and Technology Intensive Program is the only program of its kind in Canada. It begins with two weeks of in-class lectures followed by 10 weeks of intensive, practical, experiential education on-site at a placement organization*. Our students have benefited from placements across varying sectors, including pharmaceutical, policy, technology, publishing, broadcasting, media, entertainment, collective agencies, energy, and more. We are grateful for our continued long-standing relationships with AstraZeneca, Canadian Heritage, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, CBC, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), TEVA Canada Ltd., The Globe & Mail, TVO, ventureLAB, Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada, and the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics (Codex) at Stanford University.
Each year, our students have wonderful things to say about their placements. As part of the course requirements, the students publish reflections about their experiences in the program on the IPilogue.
*Starting in 2020, the IP Intensive program successfully transitioned to remote operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The IP Innovation Clinic is an innovation-to-society legal clinic staffed by law students and operated in collaboration with York University’s Innovation York and the International Law Research Program at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. It serves a clientele that is needs-based and under-serviced such as individuals or start-up companies who do not have the resources to hire a lawyer, patent agent or other advisors.
Under the guidance and mentorship of the supervising lawyers from Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, Bereskin & Parr LLP, and OWN Innovation, Clinic Fellows provide one-to-one legal information services to inventors, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies to assist with the innovation and commercialization processes.