Canadian Lawyer

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 47 better able to serve the public, work inter- nationally, protect their clients' interests, and their own. While Gold may believe predicting the future is easy, legislators, on the other hand, have trouble keeping up with yesterday's advancements. The lag time between IP, globalization, evolving technologies, and the relevant laws can be measured in years, sometimes decades. So even if today's stu- dents graduate with all the necessary IP knowledge and skills to work in 2030, the laws themselves can make practising in IP difficult. For example, "Patent laws were drafted long before computers were around, and before we had anything that could enable complex data analysis," says Wong. "If you've invented a solution to a problem that is implemented by a mechan- ical contraption with parts that you can see and touch, then as long as you've got some- thing 'new,' 'useful,' and 'inventive,' you can get a patent. The same doesn't always hold true if your invention is implemented by a computer, even though computers have pretty much taken over our lives." Fong believes rapidly evolving technol- ogies and other changes will create more opportunities in which IP will play an important role. "There is a lot of respect, on the whole, for intellectual property rights, and as long as businesses find ways to cre- ate value for their customers and educate the public on what they can or cannot do with their business' IP (while being care- ful not to alienate their customers in the process), I don't think we will see the world disintegrating into a Wild Wild West when it comes to IP protection and enforcement." Skyfall, Spectre, and The Revenant One industry that has experienced enor- mous technological change is the movie business. Today's multi-billion-dollar vis- ual effects industry relies on IP lawyers to protect its interests. Given the extremely high cost of producing the works and the even higher demand to see them (some- times illegally), the film business needs IP lawyers who are progressive, tech-savvy, and have an excellent understanding of international law. Antony Hunt is the group CEO of Cine- site, a successful visual effects and feature animation studio based in Montreal and London, England. Hunt's company has provided visual effects to dozens of award- winning movies, from every Harry Potter film to Skyfall, Spectre, and The Revenant. Cinesite has a lot to lose if IP lawyers graduating today fail to anticipate what protections will be needed in the future, where the threats may come from, in what form, and how to stop them. "Security and protection are of utmost importance in the movie industry. We are committed to offering services that are constantly monitored, upgraded, and tested against today's security threats," he says. "Our studios utilize industry-standard firewall protection, secure transfer con- nections via Soho Net and dark fibre, and encryption for all physically and digitally shipping assets." In terms of what he will need from IP lawyers in the future, he says, "looking ahead, particularly in terms of animation, protecting our IP will become vital for us to ensure an ongoing supply of quality films. We should all gear up for an IP protection drive so that we can reap the benefits of a diversified revenue stream when movie content crosses over to new media." Michael Geist, law professor and Research Chair in Internet and E-Com- merce Law at the University of Ottawa, says his faculty has adopted "a global, hands-on approach; one that can anticipate where a lot of issues will go." Asked his vision of IP education in the future, he says, "as there is an enormous amount of interest and opportunity in international issues, we'd see more of that . . . and I would continue to evolve our technology program." Will professors be ready to implement these kinds of changes? "There's no put- ting the toothpaste back in the tube when it comes to integrating technology into teaching, as well as integrating the sub- stantive issues raised by technology," says Geist. "So, if you're in administrative law, for example, you're often looking at issues like surveillance and oversight; if you're in criminal law, cyberbullying can enter into the discussion, and so on." IP is everywhere In the future, Gold says the legal profes- sional will be one of two things: either very local (wills and estates, criminal law, etc.) or international. "The boundaries that law societies put into place will become increasingly irrelevant. IP is everywhere. We need global IP lawyers and that is why policy and context are so important. That is the generation of lawyers we are hoping to train and that is where my focus is. We won't only train lawyers, we will train people to think about the law and how to develop international strategies on an international level." He adds: "The MBA has long been the defining degree for busi- ness, but I think in the IP world, it is the law degree. We teach about international law, we teach about property law and contract law across states, and I think McGill should be the premiere place for this." In the years to come, says Gold, "People will see that IP is as technical as tax and that it is linked to just about every aspect of a university education, from religion and economics to tax and policy." For Ryerson University's Chris Bent- ley, the head of its Legal Practice Program and its Legal Innovation Zone, the future is very simple: innovate or stagnate. "In law, we love our traditions. We look askance at things that are different. But today's society is all about difference and challenging the established way of doing things to come up with something better, to innovate. If our profession wants to continue to thrive in the future, we need to start accelerating our ability to [train people to innovate]; to not just do it but to accelerate our ability to do it. If there is any profession that cries out for innova- tion, it is the legal profession." intellectual property special report

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