Introduction

Intellectual property (IP) is rapidly replacing tangible assets as a major driving force for business growth. However, despite being a potentially powerful tool for business, IP is not often fully used or optimally exploited. Recognizing this, the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a think tank based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, has prepared this e-learning course to provide you with a basic understanding of how IP can be strategically leveraged to advance business objectives.

This free introductory online course will take you from understanding forms of IP all the way to developing the skills of an IP strategist. Designed as a self-study experience, the course content and skill-testing quizzes are perfect for innovative businesspeople and the professionals who support them, such as technology transfer professionals, patent agents, lawyers and business consultants.

Foundations of IP Strategy was created by CIGI Senior Fellows Myra Tawfik and Karima Bawa.

Myra Tawfik is a professor of law and the EPICentre Professor of Intellectual Property Commercialization and Strategy at the University of Windsor. She is a CIGI senior fellow, leading research on capacity building in IP knowledge mobilization. Her research and teaching focus primarily on copyright law, trademark law, international IP law, IP strategy and IP legal history.

Karima Bawa is an expert in IP strategy and a CIGI senior fellow. Her research focuses on the commercialization of university research and development and capacity building in IP strategy for Canadian innovators. She also advises and supports technology start-ups. As chief legal officer and general counsel at Research In Motion (now BlackBerry) from 2000 to 2012, she led and managed the company’s IP portfolio. She holds a B.Sc., an LL.B. and an M.B.A.

French language translation support for this project was provided by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.

    Available courses

    Designed as a self-study experience, the content and skill-testing quizzes are perfect for innovative business people and the professionals who support them (such as technology transfer professionals, patent agents, lawyers and business consultants).

    Conçu sous la forme d’un expérience d’auto-apprentissage, le contenu de ce cours et les questionnaires de test des compétences sont parfaits pour les gens d’affaires innovateurs et les professionnels qui les soutiennent (comme les professionnels du transfert de technologies, les agents de brevets, les avocats et les consultants en affaires).