UHN has a modern, comprehensive Intellectual Property (IP) Policy intended to inspire the UHN community towards commercialization activities while creating the necessary structure and institutional framework required to do so.
Guided by our IP Policy and strategic plan, UHN’s commercialization framework accomplishes the following*:
Ensures the management and protection of IP arising from research, clinical, educational and related activities conducted at UHN for the benefit of multi-faceted stakeholders, and outlines our commitment to strengthening our local and global economy by supporting:
A. the development and marketing of new healthcare products and services.
B. the negotiation of terms maximizing both patient impact, as well as the benefit to UHN and our local/national ecosystems of UHN’s research and development activities.
C. the creation of viable life-science start-up companies with a local footprint, contributing to the creation of jobs and ongoing advances into research and development within the Toronto landscape.
D. the injection of additional funding into hospital research and development activities directly resultant from licensing revenues generated by commercialization activities at UHN.
E. the injection of cash into the local and regional economies resulting from UHN start-up activities (financing, exits, equity liquidation etc.).
Defines roles and responsibilities, as outlined within the framework of our robust commercialization strategy. This commercialization approach sets up the UHN Commercialization team to work hand in hand with UHN’s research community, as well as more broadly, with all UHN personnel to foster and protect all IP developed at UHN. For more information, a copy of UHN’s current IP Policy can be requested. Research and commercialization agreements developed at UHN are guided by our Strategy and IP Policy, and steer our commercialization activities with all relevant external research, industry and ecosystem partners (such as TIAP, TAHSN, CCRM, AdMare Bioinnovations, Medicine by Design, etc.).
Supports the increase of UHN’s IP capacity through programming and related activities including the provision of access to IP Education, regular IP policy updates and education on such within UHN, including extensive internal training when warranted.
Comprises within our IP Policy, a clear invention disclosure directive to ensure all research and institutional work products with the potential to create UHN IP are disclosed in a timely and thorough manner prior to any public disclosure. Furthermore, the licensing professionals at Commercialization at UHN work in an integrated manner with each of UHN’s research institutes to ensure we are aware of all new discoveries, such that they are brought for assessment and development of a commercialization plan including registration of appropriate intellectual property rights, if appropriate by our expert team of business development professionals.
As stated within our values and strategic priorities above, UHN’s commercialization approach seeks to elevate Canada as a world destination for life science commercialization. We also follow technology sector best practices for research commercialization regarding the commercialization of IP generated at UHN. Since 2014, our approach has been to focus on supporting internal capacity to create well-financed start-ups ourselves, in order to steward UHN IP to its greatest inflection point of success, maximizing benefit to the hospital, local economy, and our position on the national commercialization stage.
UHN Commercialization and our expert team of business development/legal professionals work closely with our ecosystem to guide, co-promote and encourage the success of home-grown IP initiatives through numerous collaborative activities and committee leadership/participation.
UHN’s Intellectual Property Policy outlines our approach to commercializing IP at UHN and strives to maximize the impact that UHN research and discovery has on improving health care. Team UHN members may access UHN’s Intellectual Property Policy on the UHN Intranet.
UHN Commercialization and our expert team of business development/legal professionals work closely with our ecosystem to guide, co-promote and encourage the success of home-grown IP initiatives through numerous collaborative activities and committee leadership/participation.
*The Michener Institute of Education at UHN works in concert with UHN with regards to commercialization activities and has adopted the commercialization vision/principles outlined in the commercialization strategy and framework.
