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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U N E 2 0 1 6 31 f James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, thought getting a patent for his clunky machine in 18th-century London was tough, he'd not tried to protect something intangible that people cannot see, feel, or touch. Once exemplified by discoveries like Watt's steam engine, innovation can now start and end with information, compli- cating exactly what we mean by "making some- thing." The value of protecting information-based inventions has risen with the speed of innovation, but designing intellectual property systems to suit today's breakthroughs remains a slow, delicate art. "In the last 30 years, we have moved very fast from traditional goods to the age of knowledge," says Bassem Awad, deputy director of interna- tional intellectual property law and innovation at the Centre for International Governance Innova- tion in Waterloo, Ont. "IP rights have become the global currency for all innovators in all markets these days. We're talking about intangible assets before talking about the price of oil or the raw materials," he says. In March, thinkers like Awad met at a confer- ence in Toronto to talk about rejigging intellectual property laws to accommodate innovations in the "Fourth Industrial Revolution." There were more questions than concrete answers because emerg- ing technologies "are blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological sphere that we used to work within," says Awad. Innovators now believe in the power of lever- aging big data, but question the value of doing so if it doesn't translate into competitive advantage through IP protection. Technologies like 3D printing excite and threaten the makers of today because, while the ability to print products from toys, medical equip- ment, and car parts in one's garage means virtually no labour and shipping costs, it also means others potentially stealing the technology you or your com- pany put time, effort, and investment in to create. future future into ip the Call it the 'The age of knowledge' or the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution,' but intellectual property issues are at the heart of the future global economy. By Yamri Taddese I I CARL WIENS, I2I ART intellectual property special report