Who Actually Owns Your Best Idea? Build Your IP Inventory
About this event
Ask a founder about their intellectual property, and most will talk about patents and trademarks. But the real value in an early company is almost never registered. It’s your know-how, your customer data, your code, your brand, your processes, your training material.
And most founders have already signed a good chunk of it away; in contractor agreements, client contracts, grant conditions, and software terms of service they clicked through years ago.
This is a working session, not a lecture. You’ll build an IP inventory for your own business in the room, look at how those assets could actually make you money, and find out what funding exists to protect them. Then the Catapult team stays on for one-on-one meetings with anyone who wants to talk through their own situation.
What you’ll walk away with
A completed IP inventory for your business, not a template to fill in later, a finished list. You’ll have your assets written down across every category, a note on who currently owns each one, and the gaps flagged.
You’ll also leave knowing which of your assets could be commercialized and how, and what funding is available to help you protect them. Catapult Startups is an ElevateIP Alberta delivery partner, so if you identify a gap worth fixing, there is a funded path to fix it.
Who this is for
Founders and operators with a live business. Tech professionals responsible for product, data, or contracts inside a company. Anyone who has built something and isn’t certain they own it.
No legal or IP background required. Every term gets defined in plain language.
Event agenda
2:00 – 2:10 | Why IP matters, and what actually counts as an IP asset
The categories most founders never think about, and why the unregistered ones usually hold the most value.
2:10 – 2:35 | Build your IP inventory
Twenty-five minutes of hands-on work. You list your own assets, mark who owns each one, and flag the gaps. Facilitators circulate throughout.
2:35 – 2:45 | Commercializing your IP
How IP assets generate revenue — licensing, protection as a competitive moat, and what makes an asset attractive in a sale or raise.
2:45 – 2:50 | Funding your IP strategy
What ElevateIP Alberta covers, who qualifies, and how to access it.
2:50 – 3:00 | Q&A
We open the floor for questions.
3:00 – 3:30 | Five Minutes with Catapult
Five one-on-one meetings with the Catapult team. Tell us about your business, tell us your biggest current problem, and we’ll give you a recommended next step. Slots are limited and booked in advance; registrants will receive a booking link.
What to bring
A laptop or notebook, and if you can, access to your contractor agreements, client contracts, or grant terms. You’ll get far more out of the inventory block if you can check what you actually signed.
If you’re booking a one-on-one, come with one specific problem rather than a general overview. Five minutes goes fast.
Catapult Startups is a Calgary non-profit working with founders across Alberta and Canada, and an ElevateIP Alberta delivery partner.
Built Here. Backed Here.
Calgary Innovation Week is the city-wide moment that brings Calgary’s innovation ecosystem into full view. Across the week, founders, industry, investors, talent and community organizations come together to share what they’re building, make connections, and show the strength of what’s being built here – and backed – here.
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