“Too many Canadian start-ups and small or medium enterprises lack IP strategies. Even businesses that do patent rarely have viable strategies for using or enforcing their intellectual property rights. In Silicon Valley, patent-protection strategies are present at all phases of R&D, from the outset”
Jim Balsillie, Former CEO, Research in Motion
Canada has an IP problem. Start-ups and SMEs are failing to put in place clear IP strategies to support their business objectives. Intellectual property rights are seen as vague and passive insurance policies taken out on inventions. This is a false perspective that falls behind how IP is being acquired and leveraged in the US and Europe.
Intellectual property rights are commercial assets that should only be invested in when they are part of a business strategy to produce commercial value. The failure to understand how these assets fit into a commercial strategy is a key element of Canada’s “scale-up problem”.
Join Denis Keseris, of Smart & Biggar, to learn how intellectual property strategy is creating tangible commercial value for start-ups and SMEs around the world, and how Canadian companies can become savvier users of intellectual property rights.
About Denis Keseris
Denis Keseris has over 15 years of experience in the field of intellectual property. As part of Smart & Biggar’s IP Strategy group, his practice is mainly focused on advising clients in relation to strategic portfolio growth and utilization. Prior to joining the firm, Denis spent most of his career practicing as a UK & European Patent Attorney in London and Paris, both as in-house counsel and in private practice.
Denis has developed his strategic IP expertise over a number of years, by providing commercially-focused strategic counseling in contentious IP matters, in freedom to operate projects for large European medical devices manufacturers, and IP due diligence and portfolio valuation projects for London-based private equity and venture capital investors.
He has worked with a wide range of clients in Europe, Asia and North America, including SMEs looking to attract investment and increase their returns on IP investment, large multinational clients seeking to strengthen their existing portfolios and assert their rights through litigation and licensing and investors backing some of the most innovative technology companies on either side of the Atlantic.
About Smart & Biggar
Smart & Biggar helps the world’s leading tech companies protect and leverage their IP, and advise them on how to use IP Strategy to secure growth around the world.
Headquartered in Ottawa with a national presence, Smart & Biggar has a consistent track record and reputation as the leaders for IP and tech law in Canada.