From Start-up to Scale-up Innovation

Authors

Giuseppina D'Agostino, Osgoode Hall Law School of York UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2019

Source Publication

Intellectual Property Journal, vol. 32, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-5.

Keywords

Innovations; Students; Success; Inventors; Intellectual property; Initiatives; Research & development--R&D; Education; Trademarks; Startups; Commercialization; Venture capital; Entrepreneurs; Patents; Pro bono services

Abstract

A recent report found that 22 per cent of Canadian companies listed "failure to protect IP" as an external challenge to expanding sales in foreign markets.5 However, due to budget pressures, start-ups and SMEs may under-invest in IP protection and commercialization strategies, if they do so at all.6 The financial constraints for start-ups and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are especially critical in a specialized field such as IP law, where patent costs are prohibitive and can cost upwards of $20,000.7 These prohibitive costs have long-standing consequences when not addressed early in the commercialization process. The new innovator's commercialization dilemma is particularly acute for small and first-time inventors seeking to bring their creations to market.10 A well-developed IP and commercialization strategy can allow high growth start-ups to scale up by accessing highly skilled talent, more capital and investments, and expand domestic as well as international customer bases.11 The lack of access to IP information and assistance weakens the IP savviness of Canadian entrepreneurs and businesses and, ultimately, the country's international competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy. Enterprising academic initiatives have sought to address this dilemma and provide crucial access to justice for economic mobility within the knowledge-based economy. one such initiative is the Innovation Clinic, a student-based IP legal clinic currently operated through IP Osgoode.12 Since 2010, the Innovation Clinic has worked to address the new innovator's commercialization dilemma by helping start-ups and SMEs overcome the prohibitively expensive barriers to IP protection by assisting inventors, entrepreneurs, start-up companies, and SMEs with their IPrelated business issues. Ultimately, like the Innovation Clinic itself, the report contributes to ongoing dialogues about how to educate and train Canada's entrepreneurs and law students for success in today's international, knowledge-based economy. 1 Giuseppina D'Agostino, "How the IP Strategy Could Transform Canadian Innovation", CIGI (September 6, 2018), online: https://www.cigionline.org/ articles/how-ip-strategy-could-transform-canadian-innovation. 2 Philipp G. Sandner & Joern Block, "The Market Value of R&D, Patents, and Trademarks" (2011) 40:7 Research Policy 969; Christine Greenhalgh & Mark Rogers, "Trade Marks and Performance in Services and Manufacturing Firms: Evidence of Schumpeterian Competition through Innovation" (2012) 45:1 Australian Economic Rev. 50.

Repository Citation

D'Agostino, Giuseppina, "From Start-up to Scale-up Innovation" (2019). Articles & Book Chapters. 3271.
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/scholarly_works/3271