About Intellectual Property Ontario

Intellectual Property Ontario is a board-governed provincial agency that will help the postsecondary education and research and innovation sectors generate, protect, manage and commercialize intellectual property (IP).

Intellectual Property Ontario provides expert IP advice and access to IP resources to help researchers and companies better understand how to:

  • maximize the value of IP
  • strengthen their capacity to grow
  • compete in the market
  • enhance research and commercialization outcomes

The creation of Intellectual Property Ontario is a recommendation from the Expert Panel on Intellectual Property's report on the issues and opportunities to protect home-grown innovation and strengthen commercialization.

Learn more about Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON)

Call for expressions of interest from IP lawyers, professionals and firms

Apply to join a roster of service providers

Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON) is inviting you to apply to join a roster of service providers. This roster will offer IPON’s clients a selection of vetted, quality service providers with expertise in various areas of IP protection and commercialization.

IPON is looking for service providers with IP expertise in the following priority sectors:

  • artificial intelligence
  • medical technologies
  • automotive vehicles

Service providers will have an independent client relationship with IPON clients. IPON’s role will be limited to providing financial assistance to its clients to cover part of their professional fees for IP rights protection and commercialization (for example, patent application services, drafting agreements, trademark and copyright services). IPON will not have any direct relationship with the service providers.

Note: IPON vouchers are expected to provide funds to IPON’s clients to retain professional IP services. The funds will provide a partial subsidy of a client’s professional fees, up to a maximum cap. Clients will pay the balance of the professional fees themselves.

Providers will offer a variety of services to clients. The services are:

  1. Services, other than litigation services, provided by a person licensed under the Law Society Actto practise law in Ontario as a barrister and solicitor
  2. Financial services
  3. Business strategy and marketing advisory services
  4. Services provided by an individual licensed as a patent agent or a trademark agent under the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents Act (Canada)
  5. Services provided by an individual authorized to act as a patent agent or a trademark agent under the law of a country other than Canada and who is included in the Register of Patent Agents or the Register of Trademark Agents, as the case may be, maintained under the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents Act (Canada)

Beta phase

IPON plans to support up to 40 clients in its priority sectors during its beta phase. IPON will be creating a roster of 6–7 service providers to support the launch of an initial beta phase. Other calls for expressions of interest may be released based on IPON’s clients’ needs.

More information

Service providers selected for the IPON roster will be invited to participate in pre-launch consultations and to attend workshops or IP Advanced Series events, which will provide an opportunity to meet with prospective IPON clients. You will also be invited to participate in consultations post-launch to evaluate user experience and customer satisfaction.

Contact legal@ip-ontario.ca if you:

  • are interested in being on a roster for the initial beta phase
  • can demonstrate IP expertise and ability to service clients in Ontario as legal or business advisors in IP
  • have demonstrated IP protection and commercialization expertise in at least one of IPON’s priority sectors: artificial intelligence, medical technologies and/or automotive vehicles

Contact us

For more information, please contact us:

 legal@ip-ontario.ca