Background

Jason Howg is a partner, lawyer, patent agent and trade-mark agent in our Calgary office. He was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 2000 after graduating with a law degree from the University of Alberta. He became a patent agent and a trade-mark agent in 2004.

Prior to his legal career he completed a business degree (with distinction) from the University of Regina, majoring in corporate finance.

Jason has consulted, worked and taught in the information technology, computer, software and internet fields and has taught computer courses at a university level.

Jason is the Practice Group Leader for BLG's Calgary Intellectual Property (IP) and Information Technology (IT) group and is the Calgary leader for BLG's IT focus group.

Areas of Practice

• Jason's legal practice is focused on technology law.
• Most of Jason's practice is dedicated to drafting, negotiating and advising clients on large-scale and mission-critical IT transactions, particularly in the health informatics area. These include software license agreements, software support and maintenance agreements, professional services agreements, software development agreements, hardware purchase agreements, source code escrow agreements, data access agreements, distribution agreements, multimedia licensing agreements and consulting and outsourcing agreements.
• Jason's patent practice focuses on IT technologies and computer-related technologies, and software technology and business methods. Services include drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications internationally as well as conducting patentability searches and preparing patentability, validity and infringement opinions.
• As a lawyer, patent agent and trade-mark agent, Jason's expertise is often drawn upon to draft and negotiate IP portions of agreements for large commercial and securities transactions.
• Jason also drafts and negotiates IP agreements and technology agreements including patent licenses, trade-mark licenses, copyright licenses, trade secret licenses, transfer agreements and development agreements.

Professional Experience

• Routinely drafts, negotiates and advises clients on IT agreements and information system agreements for vital computer and software systems.
• Advises health organizations on multi-million dollar IT, IS and IT project-related agreements for clinical, hospital and non-clinical systems.
• Drafted and negotiated an Energy Management System (EMS) agreement for a client in the energy industry.
• Advised clients on multi-million dollar IT and business processing outsourcing arrangements in the areas of payroll, HR, financial services and managed services.
• Acted as IP lead lawyer for a $2.7B transaction involving international IP assets.
• Led an IP due diligence team for $250M purchase of software assets from a leading simulation software company.
• Has drafted, prosecuted and maintained numerous international patent portfolios for clients.

Professional and Community Activities, Selected Publications and Selected Presentations

• Jason is a Certified Licensing Professional™ or CLP™ (both are trade-marks of the Licensing Executive Society)
• Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
• Member, IT.Can (Canadian IT Law Association)
• Member, Licensing Executive Society
• Member, Intellectual Property/Technology Section of the Canadian Bar Association ( Alberta South)
• Member of the Canadian Bar Association, Alberta Branch

Selected publications and presentations:

• "Cloud Computing: Understanding and Managing Risk", BLG seminar.
• “IT expands its reach into healthcare delivery”, The Lawyer's Weekly.
• Interviewed for article “Gone phishing” in The Lawyers' Weekly.
• “A primer on negotiating IT agreements that work”, The Lawyer's Weekly.
• Interview with Andrew Wahl for: “Patent Pain”, Canadian Business Magazine.
• “Successfully Negotiating Intellectual Property License Agreements”, Canadian Institute Conference.
• Presenter at Waterloo Institute for Health Informatics Resource's Health Informatics Bootcamp.
• “Five Costly Intellectual Property Mistakes to Help Your Client Avoid”, Canadian Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Section South, Calgary.
• “Patents, Copyright and Trade-marks - An Intellectual Property Primer” (client seminar).
• “Protecting your Intellectual Property - Advanced Patent Strategies” (client seminar, presented with Tim Webb).
• “Employees, Contractors or You: Who Owns ‘Your' Intellectual Property?” (client seminar).
• “Intellectual Property Mice Stories” (client seminar).
• “Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation, International Trade and Foreign Investment”, with panel at Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT), Calgary, Alberta.
• “Nightmare on E-Street” Canada E-Business Awards.
• “Internet Jambalaya” (client presentation).
• “Monitoring Employees” (client seminar).
• “Drive Revenues Higher - Branding, Trade-marks and Domain Names and Tales of www.xxx.com” (client seminar).
• “E-mail Law 101” BLG client presentation.
• “Patents 101”, Calgary Technologies Inc.'s Lunch and Learn Program.
• “E-Business and Intellectual Property - Small Print Meets Small Font”, Alberta E-Business Leaderships Awards.
• “How to Read a Patent Efficiently and Effectively”, client seminar.
• “E-Commerce Legal Issues”, Alberta Food Processors Association.
• IP Presentation to Calgary 's sister city in Arizona ( Phoenix ) (for Calgary Chamber of Commerce).