8 Intellectual Property

​​​In this section:

8.1 Meet the Team
8.2 ​Service statement of Industry Liaison Specialist
8.3 What is Intellectual Property? 
8.4 What supports exist to help me manage my intellectual property?
8.5 What are Laurier’s intellectual property policies?
8.6 What are the intellectual property policies of the Tri-Agencies?
8.7 How do I assign intellectual property to the university?
8.8 Where can I access other supports for my intellecual property?
8.9 Learn more about intellectual property?

If you are unable to find the answer you are looking for in this section, please contact us here.

8.1 Meet the Team

Agnes Bantigue

Agnes holds an MBA and a Master of Laws in Intellectual Property. She previously worked for the Philippine Space Agency as a project development officer and the University of the Philippines as an intellectual property and technology transfer officer.

Agnes Bantigue is responsible for enhancing the development of strategic collaborative relationships between Laurier faculty and external organizations, including the private sector, non-governmental organizations and the public sector, in supporting the university’s research, intellectual property and technology transfer activities. Through a variety of commercial arrangements, including licensing and start-up company creation, she is also responsible for the identification, protection and commercial exploitation of intellectual property developed by university faculty and other researchers.

Contact Information

E: abantigue@wlu.ca
T: +1 548-889-4119

8.2 ​Service statement of Industry Liaison Specialist

The Industry Liaison Specialist is committed to promoting technology transfer activities to bring ideas to market. This includes advising you on all matters related to creation, protection and commercialization of intellectual property via patents, trademarks and copyrights. Through commercialization and applied research activities, the Industry Liaison Specialist supports you in maximizing the impact of your work. 

Services include: 

  • Evaluate inventions, discoveries and copyright materials.  
  • Secure intellectual property protection through patents, copyright, trademark and others. 
  • Identify industry partners to support development and commercialization. 
  • Support grant funding applications for market research and technology development, such as NSERC Idea to Innovation. 

The Industry Liaison Specialist serves all faculty across all disciplines and will take the time necessary to understand the industry sector, product or service that applies to your specific needs. Please reach out if you are interested in engaging in a research partnership with industry or to learn more about how we can best support the commercial potential of your research activities. 

8.3 What is Intellectual Property? 

Innovation and creativity plays a critical role in every academic discipline. The generation of ideas that can be shared, collaboratively enhanced and applied for broader societal benefits, are directly tied to intellectual property rights. Creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce are all considered to be intellectual property, which can be protected in law by patents, copyright, and trademarks.  

Technology Transfer and Knowledge Mobilization are key terms used to describe the process of translating knowledge and discoveries into a format that is more accessible to the general public. Academic researchers participate in these processes for many reasons, including: 

  • Making a positive impact on society.
  • Personal fulfillment from seeing their ideas put into practice.
  • Enriching educational opportunities and future employment prospects for students.
  • Achieving recognition and financial rewards.
  • Attracting additional research funding and sponsors.

8.4 What supports exist to help me manage my intellectual property?

The Industry Liaison Specialist manages Laurier’s portfolio of intellectual property to support you in the transfer of technology and inventions by: 

  • Advising on University policies on intellectual property.
  • Evaluating invention disclosures by faculty, staff and students.
  • Supporting the protection of inventions through patents and other means.
  • Engaging with internal and external legal counsel to support the protection of intellectual property.
  • Assisting with grant funding to support market assessment, developmental and proof-of-concept studies, such as NSERC Idea to Innovation.
  • Preparing marketing materials to share with potential licensees and commercial partners.
  • Negotiating license agreements with technology receptors.
  • Identifying and engaging with strategic partners to translate early-stage discoveries into market-ready technologies.

Please contact the Industry Liaison Specialist to discuss how we can best support the commercial potential of your research. You are encouraged to begin confidential discussions at an early stage, when you believe you have created or discovered something unique, and before public disclosure.  

8.5 What are Laurier’s intellectual property policies?

Institutionally, the ownership of intellectual property is ‘typically’ creator owned, but that is not always the case.  Ownership can depend on your relationship with the university, the resources invested into the research by the university, and any external agreements you entered into with the funder of the research.  It is important that you familiarize yourself with Laurier’s policies  related with intellectual property before you begin work to better understand intellectual property ownership.  The ownership of intellectual property is outlined in:​

8.6 What are the intellectual property policies of the Tri-Agencies?

8.7 How do I assign intellectual property to the university?

If you believe that you have created or discovered something unique with potential commercial or societal value, the first step is to fill out the Invention Disclosure Form. You are advised to contact the Industry Liaison Specialist prior to publicly disclosing your invention in a presentation, abstract, research proposal, student thesis or other public presentation. Reporting your invention to the university will help inform us of what the innovation is, what significant problem it may solve, who might use it, what commercialization challenges exist, and what are the best strategies to finance and protect your intellectual property (IP). The Industry Liaison Specialist will review the information to determine whether the university has any obligations regarding new IP (based on sources of funding) and who may have IP ownership rights, based on listed co-inventors/contributors to the work and university policy. 

Laurier has an inventor-owned policy, which means that all IP is owned by the faculty members that created it, except in specific circumstances (see WLUFA Collective Agreement: Article 36​). If faculty would like assistance in commercializing their innovation, an IP assignment to Laurier is required to act on the researcher’s behalf.

There are a few points for you to consider when making this decision. When IP is assigned to the university, we will:

  • cover any costs related to protecting and commercializing the invention
  • claim a percentage share of revenue, in order to recover the costs of their initial investments and to support future research activities 
  • work diligently with the researcher to secure commercial interests through partnerships and licensing, but will ultimately be able to make independent decisions on the direction of the commercialization strategy 

Following a consultation with the Industry Liaison Specialist, an extensive evaluation of the innovation will be conducted to establish if it has potential commercial value, which may include a patentability search and market analysis. This evaluation will be used by the Office of Research Services​ to determine whether to obtain IP ownership and proceed with commercialization.

8.8 Where can I access other supports for my intellectual property?

Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON) was created by the Government of Ontario to provide Intellectual Property supports and services to help businesses and researchers innovate and grow.