A cautionary tale from south of the border.
One common strategy for Canadian businesses looking to develop
new products, services, or technologies is to partner with another
business that provides expertise not available in-house.
In the knowledge economy, many of these partnerships generate
new intellectual property, which may be commercialized around the
world. This raises the issue of how to apportion the rights to the
IP between the parties. Despite being advised of the risks, many
companies choose to jointly own the rights of this new IP. There
are many reasons for this. Joint ownership seems simple and fair,
while the risks seem hypothetical and remote. Other alternatives
for apportioning the rights to the IP involve having difficult and
potentially contentious conversations that risk jeopardizing the
momentum and enthusiasm that almost always exists at the start of
the relationship. However, there is good reason for companies to
listen to the concerns of
