The Government of Ontario should: a. Provide a dedicated fund for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to access IP expertise alongside their R&D efforts. SMEs require practical IP advice at every stage of the R&D process. This includes providing a foundational understanding of the types of IP protections available for R&D, guidance on IP strategy, and how to capture and leverage IP protections to achieve business goals. The patent filing fee and legal fees associated with this are costly and a deterrent for companies to file. Current government funding programs either do not consider IP a fillable expense or do not encourage the expense as it may be a significant portion of the grant. If the government wants to increase the number of patents filed in Ontario it must make this process more affordable by assisting with the cost of IP filing. b. Create a resource that effectively explains the process by which industry can engage with universities and other research institutions to access IP assets for commercialization. Currently, the owner of the IP is dependant on the funding program used to engage the institution. This means that working with one research institution will not be the same as working with another leading to an initial lack of transparency regarding who will own the IP until the company is engaged in the process. The negotiation can also take time and resources that SMEs do not have the capacity to provide. A resource/tool should be developed to provide distinctions between research institutions that will enable companies to make informed decisions in the selection of their research partner and assist in navigating the negotiation process once it begins. c. Work with the federal government to reduce cumbersome red tape that impedes access to public funding for R&D efforts by implementing the following: i. Public disclosure of funds available to disperse for that year and an up-to-date version available regularly. This should avoid the filling of applications to programs where funding may no longer be available or become highly competitive as funding is closed to being fully committed. Submitting a funding application requires a time investment that organizations can spend on other activities with higher ROI if funding is no longer available. ii. Companies undertake strategic relationship building, with members from funding agencies, located within regional innovation hubs. This relationship building process is onerous creating an added burden on SMEs. At times, these relationships may not be well established by the end of the funding cycle, and companies miss the opportunity to access funding for the year. The government must examine this process and determine how best to streamline these activities considering the potential economic burden these place on SMEs. 25