About Us

About Us

The Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) is Canada’s first and only public interest technology law clinic. Based at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, our team of legal experts and law students works together to advance the public interest on critical law and technology issues including:

• Privacy;
• Free Expression;
• Intellectual Property;
• Telecommunications Policy; and
• Data and Algorithmic Governance.

Our mandate has three inter-related components:

1. We speak up for the public interest when key decisions about technology law and policy are being made by Parliament, the courts, regulatory agencies, international bodies, and private companies;
2. We provide pro bono legal counsel to clients with technology law matters that implicate the public interest; and
3. We develop public education materials and resources on technology law and policy issues.

CIPPIC was established in 2003 and is one of five technology law clinics across North America to benefit from the generous financial support of Prof. Pam Samuelson and Dr. Robert Glushko. Learn more about how you can support CIPPIC’s public interest mission by making a tax-deductible donation.

CIPPIC acknowledges that its offices are located on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation.

OUR TEAM

David Fewer Director & General Counsel Tel: 613-562-5800 x 2558 Email:

David Fewer is an intellectual property and technology lawyer who brings over twenty-five years of experience to CIPPIC's advocacy on intellectual property and technology law files. Prior to joining CIPPIC, David practiced with national firms in British Columbia and Ontario and clerked with the Federal Court of Canada. He completed an LL.M. at the University of Toronto, where he wrote on intellectual property policy and the application of the Charter to copyright law. He has taught and written extensively on intellectual property and technology law issues, and is a frequent commentator in the media on such issues.

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Christian Clavette Staff Counsel Tel: 613-562-5800 x 2914 Email: christian [dot] clavette [at] uottawa [dot] ca

Christian Clavette is an intellectual property and technology lawyer. His litigation practice and research focuses on intellectual property and innovation policy. He is also a part-time professor at the Faculty of Law, teaching intellectual property law and actively coaches the University of Ottawa’s IP advocacy moot teams. Before his tenure at CIPPIC, Christian worked at Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada as a patent policy advisor within the Market Framework Policy Branch. Before this, he clerked with the Honourable Justice George R. Locke at the Federal Court of Appeal and spent his summers as an intern working in IP litigation. After receiving his PhD in chemistry in 2015, he was a lecturer at the Faculty of Science teaching the undergraduate curriculum. He then worked in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in drug development and process development before returning to the University of Ottawa to complete his JD in Law and Technology.

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CASE AND PROJECT SELECTION

We select projects and cases by weighing various considerations including our resources, our expertise, the relevance of the matter to our mandate, and the appropriateness of the matter for student work. If you are interested in working with us on a case or project, plese contact us at admin@cippic.ca

STUDENT PARTICIPATION

CIPPIC balances its public interest mandate with its responsibility to train the next generation of lawyers. uOttawa law students can participate in CIPPIC as volunteers, for course credit, as summer interns, or as articling students. Find out more on our Student Participation page.

FUNDING

CIPPIC was established in 2003 with proceeds from a class action lawsuit against Amazon.com, which a judge ordered to be given to the University of Ottawa to start a law clinic to advance the public interest on key technology law issues. These court-ordered funds were matched by an Ontario Government initiative to support technology-related research at several Ontario Universities. In 2007, CIPPIC received a transformative gift from Prof. Pam Samuelson and Dr. Robert Glushko of the Berkeley, California, that allowed it to become a leading voice in Canadian and international technology law and policy discussions.

CIPPIC relies on the generous contributions of individual donors to maintain and expand its operations. Please visit our Donations page to make a tax-deductible contribution to us today, or reach out to Vivek Krishnamurthy, our Director, to discuss funding opportunities.

Contact CIPPIC

Email: admin@cippic.ca
Telephone: +1 613-562-5800 x2553
Fax: +1 613-562-5417

Mailing address:

CIPPIC, the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic

University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law - Common Law Section
57 Louis Pasteur St.
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5

Office location:

100 Thomas More

Suite 306, Brooks Building
Ottawa, Ontario

CIPPIC and the University of Ottawa are located on unceded Algonquin territory
An account of the Algonquin people's history in the Ottawa valley can be found here