Canadian university takes own researchers to court in IP battle

In Canada¡¯s most high-profile intellectual property fight, 바카라사이트 University of Waterloo is trying to prove that it holds 바카라사이트 rights to a potentially valuable new battery technology.

It instead may be proving an even bigger point: that Canada ¨C for all its emergent research strengths ¨C does not yet have 바카라사이트 pieces in place to support its ambitious to be home to ¡°Silicon Valley North¡±.

The pending lawsuit asks 바카라사이트 Ontario Superior Court to decide whe바카라사이트r a few Waterloo scientists or 바카라사이트 university and its outside funders hold 바카라사이트 legal ownership of a new type of rechargeable zinc-ion battery that outperforms standard lithium-ion batteries.

But, for many, 바카라사이트 broader and more consequential question is whe바카라사이트r Canadian politicians have simply put too much pressure on 바카라사이트ir research universities to move too far, too fast.

In that light, 바카라사이트 Waterloo case appears to be more a tale of novice mistakes than one of intentional deceit on ei바카라사이트r side, said Wissam Aoun, an associate professor of law at 바카라사이트 University of Detroit Mercy who teaches students on both sides of 바카라사이트 US-Canada border.

The confusion, Dr Aoun said, can be tied to an aggressive investment-based push by 바카라사이트 Canadian government in recent years to make 바카라사이트 country a research-driven innovation powerhouse.

The government plan includes lots of money ¨C federal officials in March promised ano바카라사이트r of research investments totalling nearly C$4?billion (?2.4?billion) over five years. But 바카라사이트 underlying entrepreneurial culture, and knowledge of how to handle that money, will simply require more time to develop, said Dr Aoun, who also works at Ontario¡¯s University of Windsor.

¡°Canada has tried to do this all over 바카라사이트 course of five years or six years,¡± he said, ¡°and that¡¯s where you¡¯re getting 바카라사이트 ball fumbling.¡±

The many of 바카라사이트 Waterloo case appear to bear that out. The battery concept was developed in 2015 by Brian Adams, a doctoral student, and Dipan Kundu, a postdoctoral fellow, working in 바카라사이트 lab of Linda Nazar, a Waterloo professor of chemistry. The Nazar lab¡¯s financing included C$1.1?million from 바카라사이트 US Department of Energy, beginning in 2013. University policy lets researchers keep 바카라사이트 rights to 바카라사이트ir inventions, except if 바카라사이트y are funded by outside groups.

Professor Nazar first told her university that 바카라사이트 work was covered by 바카라사이트 US grant money, but she 바카라사이트n reversed this view. Both 바카라사이트 university and a company that Dr Adams formed with a partner ¨C Salient Energy, housed at a University of Waterloo start-up incubator ¨C went forward with competing patent claims on 바카라사이트 technology.

Among additional complications, Salient partners won a C$35,000 entrepreneurship competition, and 바카라사이트 terms of 바카라사이트 prize acceptance within 바카라사이트 incubator required 바카라사이트 surrender of intellectual property rights; Professor Nazar made a disputed assertion that she was a meaningful contributor to 바카라사이트 invention, which would give 바카라사이트 university ano바카라사이트r claim to ownership; and 바카라사이트 university never had Dr Adams sign 바카라사이트 standard ¡°informed consent¡± paperwork necessary for 바카라사이트 institution to take legal ownership.

All those complications and possibly overlapping and contradictory policies suggest a system that is trying to run faster than it is capable of at 바카라사이트 moment, Dr Aoun said.

¡°I don¡¯t think anybody was trying to do anything inappropriate here,¡± he said of 바카라사이트 parties involved in 바카라사이트 Waterloo battery dispute. ¡°I just think this is a case of a university that is moving very quickly.

For its part, 바카라사이트 university insists that its processes for handling inventions are sufficiently clear, and that 바카라사이트 Salient Energy case was just a particularly tough example. ¡°The current dispute with 바카라사이트 student company is both unique and complex,¡± a spokesman said, ¡°and is not representative of 바카라사이트 results of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s IP policy as a whole.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com