Schedule-at-a-Glance

Canadian Region Meeting Agenda

April 30-May 2
The Doubltree by Hilton Downtown
Toronto, Ontario Canada

*Tentative schedule, program subject to change

Tuesday, April 30

1:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.  Directors’ Forum (additional registration and fee applies)
The 2024 Canadian Region Directors’ Forum will be a half-day working session dedicated to discussing key issues for our community that can be used to raise awareness of critical opportunities and deficits with our own institutional leadership and subsequently with government. Learn more
   
1:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.  Add-On Course — Drafting, Negotiating, and Transacting License Agreements. (additional registration and fee applies)

Diving into technology licensing can be quite a journey—it's complex and usually needs lots of experience to get right. Since licensing pros often handle just a few deals each year, it's tough to gain deep expertise. Join this add-on course to learn the ins and outs of academic license negotiation, making it a bit easier to navigate. Learn more.

 

Wednesday, May 1

7: 30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.  Registration
   
8:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.     AUTM Welcome Address & Presentation of the AUTM Canada Award
8:45 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Opening Plenary Session
Details Coming Soon!
9:50 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Exploring How Tech Transfer Offices are Handling the Commercialization of Emerging Technologies Like Biotechnology and Clean Energy
Researchers continually push the boundaries of science and new technologies emerge. Some of these are stretching the boundaries of our offices. What have we learned and what are we doing?
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Networking Break
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Concurrent sessions
A1: Supporting Startups:  Internal and External Models
As we spin out more companies, how are we supporting them through our offices or through other approaches such as venture studios?
 
A2: Data Management, Privacy, and Research Security
We live in a new world where we need to be more aware of security and privacy issues for research and partnerships.
12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.  Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
B1: Research Business Development: Strategies and Metrics

Partners are becoming a necessity for research agreements. How do we develop an effective strategy to find partners and then measure success?

B2: Recent Changes in IP Law and How They Impact Technology Transfer IP Strategy
Changes are coming to IP law that will impact filing strategy for TT offices. Join a discussion on how to work with these changes to maximize your performance.
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Networking Break
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Impact Metrics
Hard numbers for metrics won't go away.  What can we learn from what we have been doing?
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Networking Reception
Connecting with colleagues and industry pros has never been easier. Bring business cards!
 

Thursday, May 2

7:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Registration
8:15 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Day 2 Welcome Remarks
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Identifying Common Pain Points in Licenses
What are the sticking points in licenses we see repeatedly? How do we make them go away in a manner we all can live with? 
9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Break
9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
C1: IP Strategy for AI-Related Inventions

AI is not going away! A discussion of its impact on new inventions.

C2: Social Innovation — What's New
Social innovation continues to be of interest to governments and universities. What is happening that is pushing the boundaries?
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Networking Break
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
D1: Agreement Workshop, Part 2:  Case Studies

Building off a session from 2023, a discussion of issues in agreements using real-life case studies.

D2:  Finding Technologies to Commercialize from Both Sides:  a TT and Industry Perspective
Universities want to find partners to bring inventions to market. Industry wants technology to improve their market position and revenue. How do we make a match that works?
12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. How Best to Communicate our Services and the Value We Bring
Building off a session from 2023, what have we put in place or what can we put in place to let the university and wider community know about the impact university commercialization has. How do we show that Canadians benefit from our contributions to knowledge transfer?
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Wrap-up and Closing Remarks
   
 

Gold Sponsors

ExploreIP
Owkin
Osler

Bronze Sponsors

CFI
Dennemeyer & Co., LLC
Lab2Market
Bereskin Parr
ARE
Fasken

Contributing Sponsors

BLG
Tekcapital