Intellectual Property in the ABC World
Jan 20-21, 2011. Banff, Alberta
Workshop Presentations
Session 1: Evaluating the patent landscape
At Issue: Establishing a research program requires access to a myriad of tools, germplasm and organisms. Where are these to be found? Who are the major players, both nationally and internationally? Are there any patents or proprietary databases to which access is needed to conduct research? Where are areas of national strength and research importance?
Objectives: These questions can only be answered by knowing which universities, companies and institutions have intellectual property protection or proprietary knowledge. This session will consider patent landscaping in the ABC world to help answer the above questions and to help you and your team formulate policy early on in your research so as to avoid pitfalls later in your research.
Presentations:
- Dan Cahoy, Associate Professor of Business Law, Penn State University
- Danielle Lewensohn, IP Consultant, McGill University
- Stuart Smyth, VALGEN Professional Research Associate, University of Saskatchewan
Session 2: Intellectual property in research collaborations
At Issue: Large-scale genomics research is accomplished in collaboration with other universities, industry and other organizations, each with their own IP policies and practices. How do you share information among the different IP holders and different collaborators? How do you plan your projects to optimize the use of resources?
Objectives: This session will draw on recent work by the OECD on how to structure collaborations, share knowledge and advance research projects. It will assist you in developing a strategy regarding knowledge sharing, material sharing and patenting strategies that fits the needs of you and your collaborators.
Presentations:
- Sam Abraham, Vice-President, Strategic Relations, BC Cancer Agency
- Richard Gold, Professor, Faculty of Law, McGill University
- Peter Phillips, VALGEN Co-lead and Professor of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan
Session 3: Data sharing
At Issue: Access to data is fundamental to genomics research. What approaches are available to sharing genomics information through, for example, open access databases or collaborative databases? What are the implications of choosing these paths? How do you as a scientist choose among these paths to best benefit your research?
Objectives: This session will highlight and explain several of the prominent open access options. Following this, a thorough assessment of the research reality of open access will be discussed. How realistic are these systems in today’s research environment? Has your own research benefited from any of these systems? Can you envision your project using one of these systems over the course of your ABC project?
Presentations :