Article Date: June 6, 2016
For innovators operating in the Kingston area, legal help is now easier to access than ever.
A new collaboration between the Queen’s Business Law Clinic (QBLC) in downtown Kingston and InnovationXL partners located at Innovation Park has Kingston entrepreneurs buzzing – and, with any luck, will have students working at the law clinic hopping as well.
InnovationXL is a suite of programs and services designed to accelerate the growth and retention of high potential technology-based startups and small and medium-sized enterprises in Eastern Ontario. Innovation XL partners include the Queen’s Industry Partnerships & Innovation Park team, PARTEQ Innovations and Launch Lab. The arrangement will see the InnovationXL partners connecting their clients with the QBLC when the projects and startups in the InnovationXL ecosystem have reached a point where legal assistance is required.
Morgan Jarvis, Law’10 (Artsci’05, MSc’08), QBLC’s interim director, lauds the collaboration and the initiative of Industry Partnerships director Janice Mady, PARTEQ VP Paul Vickers, and regular clinic director Christian Hurley in establishing it. “I’ve thought that a connection between the Business Law Clinic and PARTEQ would be great since I was a student at the QBLC,” he says. “The fact that we’re collaborating with the InnovationXL partners shows that they – and others – have realized the value we provide in the community, which is very rewarding.”
Jarvis speaks from experience – his practice specialty in Ottawa is technology transfer, which is what this collaboration between the Queen’s clinic and the business accelerator and incubator is all about. It’s a mission that the clinic fits very well with. “The Queen’s Business Law Clinic is an extension of the InnovationXL incubator and accelerator services – all these startups need legal help,” Jarvis says. Since the QBLC’s services cover everything from business incorporation to intellectual property issues, innovators and startups are very well covered there.
“This is an exciting and important new partnership that will further connect the university to the innovation ecosystem in Eastern Ontario, mutually benefitting both parties,” says Dr. Steven Liss, Vice-Principal (Research). “We’re helping Kingston create and grow while giving students and budding entrepreneurs the chance to be involved in something that’s not only very exciting, but also provides valuable professional experience and connections to the business community, economic development, and innovation in the region.”