CleanTech Funding Opportunities

Clean technologies continue to be a significant source of investment capital in 2010. Provincial governments in Canada are looking for ways to attract and retain both the investment dollars as well as the technical and business expertise that flows from those investments.

The Alberta government is accepting applications in the field of bio-energy infrastructure development in connection with a $239 million fund it has established for biorefining. Industry Canada’s database of funding opportunities is listed here.

Contact us for strategic advice on financing, corporate services, and intellectual property protection.

Calgary – 09:00 MST

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CleanTech Fast Track in the US

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced a pilot project to provide accelerated examination of certain clean technology (cleantech) patent applications. The program is aimed at “green technology” though so far there are no details on what inventions will qualify. The current wait-time for a patent application is roughly 2.5 years just to get to a first office action, and over 3 years to obtain a final decision.

Now that the US has joined the UK, South Korea and Australia, the question of Canada’s response becomes more pressing. When will Canada adopt a fast track for cleantech patents?

Click here for the PDF of: Tips and Trends in CleanTech Licensing.

Related Reading: More CleanTech articles on ipblog.ca 

Calgary – 09:45

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Tips and Trends in CleanTech Licensing

Richard Stobbe’s article “Tips and Trends in CleanTech Licensing“  is published in this week’s edition of the Lawyer’s Weekly (Vol. 29, No. 28; November 27, 2009).  It discusses the issues of:

  • pre-license preparation;
  • licensing;
  • improvements and enhancements;
  • the regulatory environment; and
  • patents and litigation.

Click here for the PDF version.

Richard is a member of the LES Clean Tech Committee, High Tech Sector and is currently the Chair of the Calgary Chapter of Licensing Executives Society. 

Related Reading: the Lawyer’s Weekly site.  

Calgary – 11:00 MST

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Should Canada Fast Track CleanTech Patents?

In some countries (notably, the UK and South Korea, and now Australia) cleantech inventions are being earmarked to receive expedited examination in the patent office (See for example: Green Channel for Patent Applications (UK), and this announcement about changes at the Korean IP Office, plus this post about Australia’s plans). This practice covers “environmentally-friendly technologies”, such as those in the fields of prevention of water pollution and air pollution, waste disposal technologies, recycling, and others.  Sure, this should be a good thing for the environment, but make no mistake – this is also about maintaining a national competitive edge as patented cleantech inventions gain importance in the global economy. 

Should Canada implement such a procedure?

Calgary – 10:30 MST

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CleanTech Funding in Canada

Starting today, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is accepting applications from Canadian companies for funding of clean technologies. Statements of Interest (SOI) are being accepted from today until October 21st for preliminary screening in the fields of Energy Exploration & Production, Power Generation, Energy Efficiency, Transportation, Agriculture, Forestry and Mining and Waste Management.  SDTC is a funding arm established by the Canadian government.

Calgary – 14:30 MST

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Green Shift: The Politics of Brands

When the Liberal Party decided to brand their environmental policy earlier this year, they picked the name “Green Shift” …and walked right into a trade-mark lawsuit.  The mark GREEN SHIFT was already in use by a Toronto environmental consulting company.  The company promptly fired off a cease-and-desist letter, followed up by a trade-mark infringement suit in early July.  It would have been interesting, from a trade-mark law perspective, to see how a court would resolve the interplay of political brands and trade-marks. Alas, we’ll have to wait for the next case.  Election campaigns have a way of motivating settlement and yesterday the Liberal Party announced that they had resolved the dispute, and posted a notice on their site stating that: “The Liberal Party of Canada and Green Shift Inc. have resolved their dispute over the ‘Green Shift’ trademark. The Liberal Party of Canada will continue to use ‘Green Shift’ under license from Green Shift Inc.  Green Shift Inc. is not affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada and the grant of the license does not constitute an endorsement by Green Shift Inc. of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The business issues:

  • For any new brand, trade-mark clearance searches are essential.  The Liberal Party may not have done a trade-mark search when picking a brand for their policy; it might not be standard procedure, considering that a polictical policy is not what we think of as a “product” or a “service” (not unless we’re thinking cynically).
  • This shows the increasing complexity of brands and the cost of clean-up in the wake of the launch of a new brand that hasn’t been properly screened.

Calgary – 10:30 MST

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