Alberta “has world-class researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators,” says Nate Glubish, “but too often we give our intellectual property away to other jurisdictions.”
Glubish, who serves the Province as Minister of Technology and Innovation, says Alberta is launching a new Intellectual Property Office designed to “help the province’s brightest minds own what they create.”
The Alberta IP Office “will help ensure that when great ideas are developed here, the IP is created, protected, and commercialized here,” the Minister says. “That means Alberta-owned IP, Alberta companies, Alberta jobs—and a stronger, more diversified economy.”
Under Alberta Innovates, the Alberta IP Office will serve as a dedicated IP hub for Alberta’s innovation ecosystem, filling a critical gap that is currently not being addressed, according to Glubish.
The Alberta IP Office will provide leadership and support across the IP lifecycle to turn local innovations into commercial products, new ventures, and sustained economic growth, says Michael Mahon, chief executive officer of Alberta Innovates.
The Office is “another step we are taking in our commitment to make Alberta the best place to build and scale IP-rich companies,” he said.
“We look forward to engaging our community of post-secondary institutions, founders, investors and inventors to design and deliver a high-impact suite of resources to further the positive impact of technology and innovation on the economy and further economic diversification to better the lives of Albertans,” Mahon stated.
Alberta has significant research strengths across sectors such as including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, clean energy, agriculture, health sciences, and advanced materials, according to Jess Sinclair, who functions as director of government affairs for the Prairies for the Council of Canadian Innovators.
“CCI has long called for the Alberta government to pursue the value-added policies that support domestic companies in retaining, controlling and commercializing intangible assets like patents, trade secrets and data,” remarked Sinclair, who believes are “increasingly valuable” commodities “in the AI age.”
“Strong intellectual property policy is key to prosperity in the 21st century, and we are pleased to see the province is taking the step of ensuring Alberta tax dollars support protecting and commercializing homegrown ideas right here in the province,” the director stated.
Alberta’s government has allocated $8 million to the IP Office.
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