STARaCom will introduce an Inventor in Residence (IR) position.  These resources/individual(s) are needed because, although STARaCom researchers are successful in developing inventions that were brought to market, we observe several challenges that if solved will generate greater IP benefits. These challenges include: i) the limited ICT-specific expertise of technology transfer offices, whose mandate is to assist their academic and industry stakeholders who operate over a vast array of disciplines (e.g., health/life sciences, natural science and engineering); ii) STARaCom Professors, and their research teams are not necessarily equipped or experienced in identifying early in a research project what constitutes protectable and patentable ICT outcomes, and/or Know-How; and iii) offices dedicated to Entrepreneurship (e.g., McGill Engine) must interact with diverse technical requests and programming (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, PDF, faculty).

Working constructively with existing offices/resources, STARaCom IRs (the plan is to deploy several as a function of demand) will service the Professors and their teams, in collaboration with STARaCom industry partners to generate IP and Know-How documentation. For example, writing a successful, issued patent requires a unique skill set because the heart of a strong patent is the claims. Thus, the IRs will have prior experience as an author of issued patents and published archival literature, as well as experience in the commercial sector and as a mentor. As an important first step, the IRs will work hand-in-glove with STARaCom researchers to craft strong, defensible, and prosecutable patent materials before these are presented to the appropriate university office. Next, the inventors, IRs and university staff will engage with external lawyers/firms to generate and submit a full or provisional patent application. The IR will also interact with staff from Axelys, the provincial agency tasked with accelerating the development and transfer of innovations stemming from public research.