Osgoode Hall & uOttawa- Strong Ontario Schools for Intellectual Property

[BlushAndTheBar]

Hi potential law students! 

I already made a post today, but I just wanted to pop in here and write a quick message of endorsement for the Osgoode Hall and uOttawa intellectual property related experiences you can have if you choose to go to those law schools. I know in the past students like to compare schools when choosing and the deadline to apply is fast approaching, so I wanted to turn people's attention to these schools if they are interested in intellectual property law. I will list a few things you can participate in related to intellectual property at these schools: 

uOttawa 

• Fox IP and Oxford IP moot (it seems silly to endorse moots, but you would be surprised that not every school participates in the Oxford IP moot!) 
• Tech law certificate
• Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic 

Osgoode Hall 

• Fox IP and Oxford IP moot 
• IPilogue 
• USPTO Patent Drafting Competition 
• IP internships 

If I am missing something, feel free to add in the comments!

[Darth Vader]

https://commonlaw.uottawa.ca/en/tech-law-internship

Ottawa also has a tech law internship where student placements have included: Canadian Heritage (Copyright). Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Canadian Internet Registration Authority, Canadian Legal Information Institute, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Industry Canada (Digital Policy), Industry Canada (Patent Policy), Gowlings, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Ridout & Maybee, Shopify, Telus, TekSavvy, and the Commissioner for Complaints on Telecommunications Services.

However, I want to also mention here that IP employers care a great deal about whether you have a STEM degree (especially engineering and computer science degrees). You need a master's degree in STEM to be competitive for most jobs in this field. Many candidates now have a PhD as well. The only people I've seen get into this field with non-STEM degrees were federal court clerks (as the federal court hears IP law cases), and a few that networked with the smaller IP firms that do not participate in the OCI and articling recruitment processes.

So, it does not really matter where you go for IP law because if you have a STEM degree, particularly a master's and/or PhD or engineering/computer science degrees, then you are already competitive for these positions. 

[BlushAndTheBar]

37 minutes ago, Darth Vader said:

https://commonlaw.uottawa.ca/en/tech-law-internship

Ottawa also has a tech law internship where student placements have included: Canadian Heritage (Copyright). Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Canadian Internet Registration Authority, Canadian Legal Information Institute, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Industry Canada (Digital Policy), Industry Canada (Patent Policy), Gowlings, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Ridout & Maybee, Shopify, Telus, TekSavvy, and the Commissioner for Complaints on Telecommunications Services.

However, I want to also mention here that IP employers care a great deal about whether you have a STEM degree (especially engineering and computer science degrees). You need a master's degree in STEM to be competitive for most jobs in this field. Many candidates now have a PhD as well. The only people I've seen get into this field with non-STEM degrees were federal court clerks (as the federal court hears IP law cases), and a few that networked with the smaller IP firms that do not participate in the OCI and articling recruitment processes.

So, it does not really matter where you go for IP law because if you have a STEM degree, particularly a master's and/or PhD or engineering/computer science degrees, then you are already competitive for these positions. 

Amazing contribution! All of this! ^