2025 marks EMILI’s sixth year hosting its annual Agriculture Enlightened conference in Winnipeg. Join us on October 23, 2025 as we dive into what it takes to drive agriculture innovation.
As EMILI gears up for Agriculture Enlightened 2025, we are releasing highlights from past conferences to showcase the excellent calibre of speakers that join us each year.
Danielle Graff is a technology law partner at MLT Aikins. In this video she talks about how innovators need a strategy to protect their intellectual property and ensure they are asking the right questions about ownership.
“I think it goes back to that strategy, and it starts from the beginning of building something,” said Graff. “Who’s building it? Are we building it internally? Are we engaging a third party to build it? If we are engaging a third party, what does our contract say about who owns it? If we’re working with our own employees, what do our employment agreements say about who owns it? So we build on layer by layer to make sure that we’ve got the right foundation.
“[You want to make] sure you’re asking the right questions around who you’re working with, what their expectations are, and what the give and take is. You want an organization that fits what you’re working towards. Maybe ownership is not something that matters as long as you’ve got rights to it. Ideally you work with organizations like EMILI where you facilitate commercial scale testing and there’s no discussion about IP rights. But not every partner is like that. It’s about going in with your eyes open about what you’re putting at risk.”
Since 2020, Agriculture Enlightened has brought together a diverse stakeholder group including agri-food and technology experts, industry leaders, decision-makers, researchers, and students from across the prairies. We look forward to building on the success of the last six years with another outstanding event that provides a space for excellent speakers, discussion, and an opportunity to network with leaders from across digital agriculture. Purchase your ticket today.