Waterloo’s creator-owned intellectual property (IP) policy, Policy 73, is a key differentiator for the University. Unlike most universities, Waterloo researchers inherently own what they invent which incentivizes Waterloo’s attraction of the most entrepreneurial faculty and students. It is also a major draw for industry partners.
Recently, the New Zealand Government announced that it will be implementing a similar model across its national research institutions based on what it described as Waterloo’s very successful policy.
In a government press release, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins said, “The Government wants to reward and incentivize people in the industry and will therefore develop a national policy for managing Intellectual Property (IP) for science, innovation and technology-funded research. This will be based on the model used by Canada’s Waterloo University (sic), which vests ownership of IP with the researchers who create it. We will also be considering how this policy will apply to the new Public Research Organizations, with the intention being that researchers receive a share of the financial rewards from commercializing intellectual property.”
While Waterloo is proud to lead the way in empowering founders, Policy 73 does not exist in isolation. Waterloo Ventures acts as the University’s central unit for innovation, commercialization, entrepreneurship and related thought leadership and social impact. Through its work, Waterloo Ventures creates synergies across University activities to enable students, researchers, staff and founders to thrive in mobilizing ideas, knowledge, research and people toward impact. Waterloo Ventures provides support across the Waterloo ecosystem with technology transfer (WatCo), incubation and entrepreneurship training (Velocity). Additionally, the University also offers support through specialized incubators LiftOff (an affiliate) and Flint Hub, social impact creation (GreenHouse and the Grebel Peace Incubator), and thought leadership activities.
The University of Waterloo is also deeply embedded in the Region of Waterloo’s dynamic innovation ecosystem. An article on the University of Auckland website noted the similarities between the two universities in terms of student populations and leadership in research and innovation but identified Waterloo’s location and relationship with the region’s dense community of start-ups as a distinct advantage. Additionally, the University benefits from supportive and collaborative relationships with the Region of Waterloo municipalities and local federal and provincial representatives.