ÉTS Intellectual Property: Protect Your Innovations

Intellectual property is the embodiment of the mind’s creations. In the eyes of the law and Canadian regulations, it may exist in five forms: inventions (patents), industrial designs, trademarks, integrated circuit topographies and copyrights, which include literary and artistic works.

What can be Protected as Intellectual Property?

All questions relating to intellectual property are dealt with in the ÉTS document Policy and Rules on Intellectual Property (in French, PDF). This document, which deals with intellectual property in the field of research, contains the following sections:

Written works, including those created in collaboration; books and scientific articles, educational material and works carried out in whole or in part by students;
Inventions;
Computer programs;
Special considerations in the area of contract research;
Mediation, arbitration and recourse to the civil courts.

Who is Covered by the ÉTS Intellectual Property Policy?

The Policy applies to any member of ÉTS and to any person paid under an employment contract linking them to the School, regardless of the source of funding used to provide that salary.

It also applies to any person upon whom ÉTS confers a university status in the context of applications for research funds or the conduct of research and creation activities. It concerns any person working on a research project led by any person identified above, regardless of the activities in question.

Persons who contribute to research activities without being members of the School must commit to comply with this Policy and the resulting obligations.

Does any Restriction Apply to Your Research Work?

Before publishing your research or sharing it with another institution, an industrial partner or any other person outside your research team, make sure that your project is not subject to restrictions. The most common restrictions are related to:

A potential commercialization of a solution related to your work;
A confidentiality agreement in the context of a collaborative project.