Intellectual property (IP) is a term used to describe property that is not tangible, but which instead originates through the creative effort of the inventor. (John R. Wetherell, Ph.D. Microbiology/Immunology, Patent Attorney) At CGDN, IP is created by an individual or a collaborative group of our researchers located at different institutions. Give me more details on this process. In most cases, rights to ownership to this IP and any patents are held by or shared among the universitities or institutions where our research is conducted. CGDN’s share of benefits which accrue from the IP are negotiated between the institutions and CGDN based on our various contributions to the research. Benefits might be a share of licence fees or royalties, or a equity stake in a start-up company which is based on CGDN research. Ploughing back the value of these benefits to genetic research is CGDN’s objective. To do this, we have established an endowment fund for genetic research under the auspices of the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation www.genecure.ca which is dedicated to the support of the best genetics research in Canada. Read on…see our ‘CommercializationBlog’ page for how CGDN creates value for Canada from intellectual property.