Industry committee  Absolutely.

Industry committee  Many patent agents are also lawyers, but they don't need to be. Patent agents are often people with a technical background, often but not always with advanced degrees in particular sciences or engineering. Depending on the field, the higher the education necessary; in pharmaceuticals, for example, it's not uncommon to find PhD-level patent agents.

Industry committee  Exactly.

Industry committee  I would think so, yes.

Industry committee  I would say that's correct. I would say that there is another aspect to it too. If we consider IP developed at the university, and our goal is to commercialize that intellectual property, enforcement is the way we will have power to license it to a commercial partner, as opposed to it just going out into the ether where anybody can get a kick at it.

Industry committee  Sure, but just to clarify, by IP policies, do you mean at the government level or internal to the university?

Industry committee  Sure. I think within certain applied research grants these days there is provision for IP funds for filing. For example, the NSERC I2I is a great example of having funding available for patenting. I think that's great. I think where there is a little bit of a disconnect is perhaps with a lot of funding available through NSERC—and we love this funding, don't get me wrong—such as the Engage grants, the Interaction grants, and the CRDs.

Industry committee  Well, I think the first thing to note is that it's not so much that Canada is a second choice; it's that under the current patent system you file in one place, and then you have 12 months to file either internationally or pick your other countries. The U.S. just offers that added advantage with the provisional applications.

Industry committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairman and honourable members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear here on behalf of Dalhousie University. As you mentioned, my name is Erica Fraser, and I have the longest title in the world, manager of technology commercialization in engineering and sciences.