UWaterloo sues startup in patent dispute

The University of Waterloo is suing Salient Energy, a tech startup founded by one of its students, reports the Waterloo Region Record. UWaterloo claims that it owns the patent for a rechargeable battery created by the company, but Salient CEO Ryan Brown told the Record that the lawsuit contradicts the university’s promise that inventors will own the technologies they develop. “According to their own policies, graduate students give up their IP rights only when they give informed, written consent,” Brown added. “This consent was never given and UW acknowledged this.” In a statement, UWaterloo’s Associate VP of Communications Nick Manning wrote that the university is “obligated to protect our stakeholders including professors, students and research partners.” Waterloo Region Record