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Patent, industrial design, trademark, copyrights, industrial or trade secret? Which form of intellectual property should you choose to protect your additive manufacturing innovations?

Industrialists and researchers, in order to get yourself familiar with intellectual property (IP) while guiding you toward the best possible form of protection based on the specificities of your additive manufacturing innovation, the Carrefour québécois de la fabrication additive (CQFA), in collaboration with its partner, Lavery, invites you to take part in five training sessions.

These virtual training sessions will cover a variety of themes, including:

Session 1: Generalities

Date:  May 16, 2023, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Host: Béatrice Ngatcha – Lawyer and Patent Agent, Partner at  Lavery.

• IP – A property, an asset, an intangible holding;
• Several forms of IP – Trademarks, copyrights, industrial and trade secrets, industrial designs and patents;
• Protecting technology by combining different forms of IP – Example from the additive manufacturing (AM) sector;
• Patent protection versus industrial secret protection;
• Patent protection – The issues, the steps, and the costs.

Session 2: Patent Protection

Date: June 13, 2023, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Host: Béatrice Ngatcha – Lawyer and Patent Agent, Partner at  Lavery.

• Patentable subject matter – Specific to the AM sector;
• Prior art search – Patentability opinion;
• Patentability criteria;
• Patent filing strategies;
• Patent application examination procedure;
• Good practice for a strong patent.

Session 3: Collaboration Agreements – AM Sector

Date: September 19, 2023, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Host: Béatrice Ngatcha – Lawyer and Patent Agent, Partner at  Lavery.

• Sector innovation/technology example to illustrate the various groups involved;
• IP-related issues – Agreement provisions;
• Inventorship – Who is truly the inventor? Who ultimately owns the patent?;
• Good practice for a win-win collaboration agreement between the various parties.

Session 4: Identifying the Organization’s Innovations

Date: October 17, 2023, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Host: Béatrice Ngatcha – Lawyer and Patent Agent, Partner at  Lavery.

• Identifying sectors with low IP activity;
• Sensitizing researchers to public disclosure-related issues (for research results and topics);
• Creating appropriate structures (Invention Declaration document drafted by researchers, Invention Declaration evaluation group);
• Assistance from an IP professional.

Session 5: Commercially Exploiting a Patent

Date: November 21, 2023, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Host: Béatrice Ngatcha – Lawyer and Patent Agent, Partner at  Lavery.

• Identifying competitors and their IP;
• Freedom to Operate search – Opinion from an IP professional;
• Creating a strategy to monitor competitors’ IP-related activities at various IP offices around the world;
• Creating an attack strategy where needed – Administrative attack at the IP office (protest, opposition, re-examination), court battle (validity challenge);
• Obtaining a license to operate;
• Infringement action.

These training sessions are primarily offered to CQFA members and will be conducted in French.

Fee: Free of charge

Where? Online

Training subscription: Fanny Charreteur, f.charreteur@cqfa.quebec

Space is limited to 10 participants.

A login link will be sent to participants before each training session.