Course Catalogue: IP Rights
Patents are easily the most discussed form of IP, but their business value can vary widely based on a company’s IP Strategy, and the mechanics of patent protection are often misunderstood. Welcome to “So Now You’re Responsible for IP: Patents” – a collection of resources to help what we call the “IP Lead” navigate the patent ecosystem. In this section, you will find practical modules on the business value of patents that focuses on what you as a business leader need to know – the stages of the patenting process, time investment, costs, and patentability (what is patentable). These modules deal with common business problems with patent solutions and help you sort out what you can do on your own, and when you can call in expert help. We also provide reference guides to key jurisdictions like Canada, the US, and the PCT system for international patent filing, to give you a better understanding of the requirements. These business-centric materials teach you practical skills and help build confidence in your ability to review IP Professional work and move forward with value-add patent assets that support your company.
| Activity Type | Activity Title | Description | Languages | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Patents Module | Business leaders need to understand the time investment required to develop strategic patent assets and the key stages of the patenting process. This module will ballpark the typical costs and the general timelines of protection. You will also be introduced to what is and is not patentable, what a patent document looks like, and how to navigate one. | EN | 1 |
| Toolkit | The Basics of US Patent Applications | This resource provides an overview of US patent applications including basic facts, requirements, common misconceptions, and the various types of applications you commonly encounter. Use this resource when you are contemplating filing for a patent in the US and need an overview of how the US system works. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Toolkit | The Basics of US Provisional Patent Applications | This resource provides an overview of US provisional patent basics – what the filing requirements are, some common misconceptions, and the benefits and limitations of provisional patent filings when building out a patent portfolio for your company. Use this resource when you are considering your first patent filing and determining if a US provisional might be the right path. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Toolkit | The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and PCT Patent Applications | This resource provides an overview of PCT patent applications which are a vehicle to file internationally. Learn basic facts, filing requirements, and frequently asked questions. Use this resource when you have moved beyond your first patent filing and aren’t sure the best path forward when you are considering filing in multiple countries. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Toolkit | The Business Value of Patenting Software | This resource provides an overview of how software-based inventions may be protectable using patents. We discuss common misconceptions and practical tips for protecting software innovations, including some recommendations on what to consider before approaching a patent agent. Use this resource if you have a software-based innovation and you are considering your options around how to protect the business value that your software innovation delivers. | EN / FR | 3 |
| Toolkit | The Basics of Patenting in the European Union | This resource provides an overview of the European patent systems and the different pathways to achieve patent protection in Europe. Use this resource if you are considering patent protection in Europe and are looking to understand your options. For a quick overview, refer to the Overview document. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Toolkit | Patenting AI Technologies: A Practical Guide | A resource on Patenting AI Technologies to help Canadian SMEs identify which aspects of their AI innovations may be patentable, understand how AI-related inventions are evaluated under patent law, prepare effective disclosures for discussions with service providers, and make informed decisions about whether and when to pursue patent protection. This resource focuses specifically on the patenting considerations associated with AI technologies. | EN / FR | 3 |
| Toolkit | CIPO Patent Info Sheet | This link provides basic information about Canadian patents, including a short video on what you can (and cannot) patent and why patents are important business assets. | EN | 2 |
| Toolkit | Google Patents Searching Guide | Use this search guide to help you conduct effective patent searches using Google Patents, a free aggregator tool. Google Patents is a search engine that collects data from various source tools to form databases that contain patent information from multiple jurisdictions. Google Patents has indexed over 120 million patent documents from 100 national patent offices worldwide. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Toolkit | Espacenet Patent Searching Guide | Quick guide to help companies search for relevant patent documents using the publicly available Espacenet patent search tool. Through guided examples, learn how to use keywords and targeted search strings for different patent search objectives. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Toolkit | The Lens Patent Searching Guide | Quick guide to help companies search for a relevant patent document using keyword(s) and search string for different patent search objectives using publicly available Lens patent search tool. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Toolkit | Patentscope Patent Searching Guide | This toolkit provides a practical guide to help companies conduct early-stage patent searches using the publicly available WIPO Patentscope database. It supports preliminary risk screening by demonstrating how to locate relevant patent documents using keywords, structured search strings, and basic classification tools. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Module | Invention Disclosure: Capture | To capitalize on the innovation happening within your business, you need to be able to identify and document its value. This is where an invention disclosure document can help. This lesson will help you capture your invention’s business, technical and legal information to inform IP decision-making. | EN | 1 |
| Module | Invention Disclosure: Evaluate | Now that you’ve used the Innovation Disclosure Document to capture your invention, the next step involves evaluating it against a series of metrics developed to help you determine its business value. This module explains methods to complete an evaluation of your invention disclosure document. | EN | 2 |
| Module | Invention Disclosure: Protect | With the evaluation phase of your Innovation Disclosure document complete, you’re well-positioned to decide on the path forward with respect to the type of protection and publication, or no action at all. This module explains some of the things you should consider when deciding on how best to move forward protecting your IP. | EN | 2 |
| Toolkit | Invention Disclosure Forms & Guide | This resource provides an overview of how to capture the inventions within your business, and provides a form to capture the different perspectives. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Toolkit | Invention Disclosure and Evaluation Forms and Guide | This resource provides an overview of how to capture inventions within your business, a form to capture the different perspectives and uses of the invention across your business, and a mechanism to evaluate their value and enable prioritization. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Module | Your Patent Claims: Protecting Your Competitive Advantage | This lesson uses the analogy of the “patent bargain” to introduce you to the primary structural components of a patent claim (preamble, transitional phrase, body) as well as elements and limitations that define a patent claim. Having a firm understanding of the patent structure will allow you to draft a patent application where your claims are in alignment with your business objectives and stand up to scrutiny. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Toolkit | Accelerating Patents | Understand why, how, and when to accelerate patent prosecution. | EN / FR | 3 |
| Module | Your Patent Specification: Fulfilling Your Side of the Patent Bargain | Having trouble with the patent specification section of your patent application? By using our 5W+1H framework, you can review and evaluate every section of your patent specification to ensure your technical disclosure is clear and complete. We recommend having your original disclosure document handy to review your business objectives surrounding your invention. It is preferable to complete this exercise before starting your patent application. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Module | Navigating the Prosecution Stage | This lesson will introduce you to the three steps of the prosecution stage (filing and publication, examination, and issuance) and what you need to know at each step of the way. You will also learn key considerations when navigating the examination stage, such as how to deconstruct the patent examiner’s report and engage in collaborative negotiation with them. Lastly, you will learn about maintaining your patent once it is granted. | EN / FR | 3 |
| Module | Why Search for Patent Documents? | Are you looking for filed patent applications? Do you need to search patenting activity of a company of interest? Broadening your knowledge of patent searching is a useful skill to have as a business leader. This module will help you establish clear search objectives, introduce you to common source and aggregator tools for patent data, and lay out common search strategies and tactics. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Module | Effective Strategies for Patent Searching | This lesson will introduce you to five key strategies for effective patent searching by using Boolean methodologies that incorporate basic operators, nesting, and advanced operators. Upon completion of this course, you will be better equipped to carry out searches that yield quality results. Effective patent searching takes practice, so be sure to revisit this lesson to improve your search techniques. This lesson is ideal for an IP lead or anyone responsible for IP at your company. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Toolkit | Patent and Non-Patent Searching Tools | This document is intended to help you learn about freely available tools to conduct an effective patent and non-patent search in-house. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Toolkit | Patentability vs. Freedom to Operate vs. Patent Landscape: What to Do, and When | This document is intended to help you understand the differences among three types of patent searches: Patentability, Freedom to Operate (FTO), and Patent Landscape. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Toolkit | Create Optimized Keywords and Search Strings For Patent Monitoring Purposes | A quick guide to help companies build strong keywords and search strings for effective patent monitoring within a specific technology area. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Module | The Business Value of IP Landscaping | Do you keep up with market trends, customer needs, and competitor activity? Guidance can be found in patent landscape reports, which identify new and emerging technologies and provide competitive intelligence about players in the market. These reports are crucial in helping you identify your competition and make strategic business decisions accordingly. This lesson will assist you to map your IP across your value chain, determining when and how to obtain a patent landscape report, and what information allows you to identify the risks and opportunities for your business in the relevant market areas. | EN | 1 |
| Module | Reviewing Patent Documents | Unsure about reviewing technical patent documents? This lesson is designed to help IP leads review and analyze technical information in patent documents, with a special focus on four key sources of competitive intelligence: the front page, file wrappers, description/drawings, and claims. Then, by using a step-by-step guide, IP leads will learn how to conduct a preliminary review of a patent document for risk by evaluating their company’s product or service against the claims of a third-party patent document. Note to IP leads: This lesson is a practical guide for reviewing patent documents before meeting with an executive team and/or external IP Service Providers. | EN | 3 |
| Toolkit | Review of a Patent Document to Evaluate Risk Forms | Use this worksheet as a guide to help you extract key information from potential competitors’ (or any third-party) patent documents and evaluate them systemically for risk against your own product or service. Once your preliminary review is complete, you can decide whether to engage your IP service provider. | EN / FR | 3 |
| Toolkit | Breaking Down the Patent Document | This document explains how patent documents are structured, outlining the major sections of a patent, from the specification to the claims and clarifying what each part does, why it exists, and how they work together to disclose an invention and define the scope of legal protection. | EN / FR | 1 |
Every business has confidential information – and in a highly competitive market, how you protect it is critical. In this section, you will find a practical module on the business value of trade secrets that provides you with a solid foundation of what trade secret protection offers, how it can complement other forms of IP protection, and steps to keeping your company information a secret. This course also details the steps to take if a trade secret has been exposed or misused.
| Activity Type | Activity Title | Description | Languages | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Trade Secrets Module | This module will teach you about the Nuts and Bolts of Trade Secret protection and how you can incorporate trade secrets into your business as a component of a larger IP strategy. This material will cover common strategies to leverage trade secrets in achieving business goals, how to capture and protect your trade secrets, and what should you do if trade secrets have been exposed. | EN | 2 |
| Toolkit | Guide to Trade Secrets: Identify, Capture, Protect | This toolkit will help you identify and protect your company’s trade secrets and manage any risks arising as a result of trade secrets misappropriation. We set out some measures that you can take internally, and external factors that you should consider when protecting trade secrets. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Toolkit | Trade Secret Strategy – Integrating Trade Secrets Into Your Business | This resource provides a brief overview of trade secrets and discusses key considerations when weighing the options between pursuing a patent vs trade secret. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Toolkit | Patents and Trade Secrets | When developing new technology, deciding what should be kept as a trade secret and what should be patented will depend on several technical, legal, and business considerations. This toolkit will help you determine whether patents, trade secrets, or a hybrid approach best supports your company’s business strategy and IP objectives. | EN / FR | 2 |
Every company, no matter what size, has a brand. And in a competitive market, brand differentiation is critical. New to trademarks and wondering how to create a winning strategy to strengthen your brand? Leveraging trademarks is a great way to protect and enable your ability to reach and satisfy customers. In this section, our practical trademark modules will teach you the business value of trademarks, as well as their scope of protection, and best practices when creating a mark and conducting your own trademark searches. The modules also serve as a guide to help you understand how to connect trademarks to your business strategy and takes you deep into the process of identifying, selecting, clearing, and protecting your trademarks, as well as how to approach your service provider for further assistance.
| Activity Type | Activity Title | Description | Languages | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Trademarks | This module will teach you how you can incorporate trademarks into your business as a component of a larger IP Strategy. You will learn the basics of trademarks, how they provide value to a business, and their scope of protection. In addition, this module outlines the trademark registration process in Canada, the US, and the EU to help business leaders understand timing and best practices when creating a mark. | EN | 2 |
| Toolkit | International Trademarks and The Madrid Protocol | This resource provides an overview of the Madrid Protocol for the international registration of trademarks, including basic facts, requirements, common misconceptions, and key considerations of whether to use the Madrid Protocol to protect your trademarks internationally. Use this resource when you are considering trademark protection outside Canada to help determine the best path to protection. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Module | Trademark Searching: A Guide | This course offers a practical, step-by-step guide on how to conduct a trademark search (also called a trademark clearance or due diligence search) using the various trademark databases in Canada, US, and Europe, and how to prepare search reports based on your findings. Through a case study, you will learn how to analyze trademark search results to make informed business decisions. | EN | 2 |
| Toolkit | Trademark Searching Worksheet Package | This resource provides a series of worksheets that enable the user to walk through all the considerations that should come into play when selecting a name for your business, product, etc. It that allows the user to apply what their existing knowledge or what was learned from the module Trademark Searching: A Guide. Use this resource when you are considering various brand names used in your business. With the help of worksheets, checklists, and flowcharts in this downloadable zip folder, the user will be able to stay organized while they carry out a preliminary trademark search. The user can then present any relevant findings about trademarks they wish to pursue to an IP service provider for a full review. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Toolkit | Conducting Knockout Searches for Trademarks | You came up with a name for your product, service, or business – and it’s pretty good! Hopefully it’s not too good to be true. The first thing to do before registering or using the name is a trademark knockout search. A knockout search helps you identify and avoid names and trademarks that are clearly problematic right from the get-go. Learn how, here. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Module | Why Trademarks? A Primer for IP Leads | This module prompts you to think about trademarks in the context of your business: how can TMs fit into your IP Strategy and your overall business strategy? You will also be introduced to the skills needed to lead and develop a considered trademark strategy. | EN | 1 |
| Module | Trademark Identification | This module introduces you to various types of trademarks and how to use a trademark identification worksheet. Iggy, a fictional IP Lead explains how the worksheet is an effective way to organize and track your current and future trademarks so you can assess what trademarks can be protected, their importance, and priority level. By using the Trademark Identification Worksheet, you can assess and prioritize the trademarks in your business. A downloadable Trademark Identification Worksheet is included. | EN | 2 |
| Module | Creating Your Own Goods and Services Master List | Once you have completed your Trademark Identification Worksheet, Iggy returns to guide you to the next step to create your own Goods and Services Master List, which connects your trademarks to the products or services that you sell. You will learn the benefits of this list, which include simplifying the trademark filing and registration processes, and for record-keeping purposes in case of trademark infringement or to prove use of your trademarks. A downloadable Goods and Services Master List Worksheet is included. | EN | 2 |
| Module | Selecting a Strong Mark (Trademark Inherent Registrability) | Now that you have matched your trademarks to your products and services, what’s next? In this module, you will learn the crucial step of selecting the strongest trademarks to register – one(s) that can distinguish your products and services from others. You will also learn about trademark registrability criteria and how to analyze trademarks so that your chosen ones have a higher chance of being registered. | EN | 2 |
| Module | Conducting Trademark Clearance | Before filing a trademark, you will need to conduct a trademark clearance search to make sure that another business in your jurisdiction is not using the same or similar trademark for the same product or service. This module will teach you about the factors to consider when conducting a trademark search and introduce you to various types of trademark clearance searches, including competitor searches. Note to IP leads: We recommend taking Trademark Searching: A Guide before or after taking this module. | EN | 3 |
| Module | Actioning Your Clearance Search Results | Still have questions about your trademark searches? This module provides practical suggestions on how to frame your questions and what information to present to your service provider for best results and a more fruitful interaction. | EN | 3 |
Industrial designs are a form of intellectual property that businesses can use to protect the visual and aesthetic features of their products, such as shape, pattern, or ornamentation, ensuring a competitive edge in the market.
| Activity Type | Activity Title | Description | Languages | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Industrial Design – Introduction to Industrial Designs | Discover how industrial designs shape consumer perception, enhance product value, and drive business success beyond just visual appeal. This course examines what industrial designs are, how they differ from other forms of intellectual property, and why registering and owning them is essential for achieving a strategic advantage. You’ll gain the skills to recognize, protect, and effectively leverage design assets through real-world examples. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Toolkit | Industrial Designs in Business | This introductory guide explores industrial designs, a form of intellectual property that businesses can use to protect the visual and aesthetic features of their products, such as shape, pattern, or ornamentation, ensuring a competitive edge in the market. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Industrial Design – Industrial Design Registration In Canada | This module examines the process of obtaining industrial design protection in Canada through the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Learners will explore the types of product designs that qualify for protection, understand the legal criteria for registration, and follow a step-by-step process to secure exclusive rights in Canada. | EN / FR | 2 |
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Industrial Design – Protecting Your Industrial Designs Internationally | This module examines how businesses can secure industrial design rights across multiple jurisdictions through the Hague System or direct filing in the desired countries. Learners will understand the strategic benefits of global design protection, including how to file an international design application. | EN / FR | 2 |
Copyright is an essential form of IP that can make up an important part of a company’s IP Strategy. This four-part series on the Nuts and Bolts of Copyright lays the foundation of copyright and provides you with a solid grasp on the benefits of copyright, including how it can be leveraged to create opportunities for your business.
| Activity Type | Activity Title | Description | Languages | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Copyright – Copyright in your Business | Learn how copyright can be beneficial for your business, as well as the importance of using tracking tools to help manage your rights. | EN | 1 |
| Toolkit | Copyright in Business | This introductory guide provides an overview of copyright, a type of intellectual property that enables businesses to protect their original creative works, including software, digital content, publications, music, and visual art. It explains how businesses can leverage copyright to safeguard their creations, manage their use, and generate revenue through licensing or sales. | EN / FR | 1 |
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Copyright – How To Avoid Copyright Infringement | Are you concerned about copyright infringement? This module helps you avoid copyright infringement and prevent your work from being infringed upon. Besides gaining a better understanding of copyright infringement, you will be introduced to actions that can be taken to verify copyright ownership, legally use copyrighted works, and protect your own copyrights. | EN | 2 |
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Copyright – Copyright Registration | Debating whether to register your copyright? In this module, you will learn about the benefits of copyright registration, as well as why some businesses choose not to register their copyrights. In addition, you will get an overview of the Berne Convention on international copyright protection and copyright registration requirements for Canada and the US. | EN | 3 |
| Module | Nuts + Bolts of Copyright – Creating Opportunities | Licensing your copyright can be a way for your business to generate revenue. In this module, you will be introduced to the basics of copyright licensing, such as the typical licensing terms, scopes of copyright licenses, and the importance of creating processes and frameworks to manage your licences. | EN | 3 |
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