The Innovation Asset Collective and the Ontario Centre of Innovation announce new partnership

April 30, 2021

When it comes to protecting Intellectual Property (IP), Ontario innovators can face significant hurdles in the race to develop and protect what is theirs – including cost, expertise, and time. For this reason, organizations, researchers, policy makers and experts must come together to ensure that the critical resources Canadian businesses need to start and scale are easily accessible.

The Innovation Asset Collective (IAC) and the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) are pleased to announce a new partnership that will leverage collective resources to support the growth of Ontario Small and Medium -sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the critical areas of IP and commercialization.

“This strategic partnership will help our province’s ambitious businesses and organizations grow and protect made-in-Ontario innovations, ideas and products,” said Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “Ensuring intellectual property resources and expertise are available to Ontario’s innovators will help them commercialize new technologies, create jobs and assist in our economic recovery from COVID-19.”

“The IAC’s deep expertise in helping Canadian data-driven cleantech companies harness the value of their IP is a powerful compliment to OCI’s long track-record of supporting Ontario innovators to develop IP and commercialize it into next-generation products and services,” said Dr. Claudia Krywiak, President and CEO, OCI. “By working together, we can accelerate the commercialization of made-in-Ontario IP and sharpen Ontario’s competitive edge, now and into the future.”

With mandates to support SMEs, this partnership provides an opportunity to layer the expertise from both organizations together and more effectively drive outcomes for Ontario innovators.  

“SMEs are at the centre of innovation in Ontario and across Canada,” said Jim Hinton, Co-founder, IAC. “It is through the partnership between IAC and OCI that we will unlock the value of Ontario’s world leading research institutions for the economic benefit of Ontario, while also amplifying educational and strategic IP support for Ontario SMEs.”