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Happy Holidays (and don't forget to mark your calendars for CPES2019)
Happy holidays and best wishes to you and yours from all of us at the intelliFLEX Innovation Alliance
We couldn't be prouder of how the Canadian – and, indeed, the wider North American – FHE industry has grown and evolved in 2018. The past year has been one of both change and accomplishment for intelliFLEX, as well, on several fronts:
- Increased network for improved collaboration by 27 members
- Secured or helped members secure government funding for several new
R&D projects
- Helped our members secure funding and establish a new manufacturing scale-up facility, and the new GReEN R&D Network across Canada
- Secured funding for industry mission to EU at LOPEC from the GOA program, where support goes to our members
- Delivered CPES2018, a highly successful networking conference that provided global visibility to Canadian industry, with 40 speakers, four innovation awards, 22 exhibits and more than 185 in attendance
- Positioned intelliFLEX for future funding with the Manufacturing Supercluster, which was recently funded
IntelliFLEX will now take advantage of some much-deserved downtime over the holiday break, and we’ll return refreshed and revitalized in the new year. In the meantime, please download our 2018 Annual Report from our Members-Only Knowledge Base for a more complete view of what we’ve accomplished over the past year.
And don’t forget to block off your calendar for the biggest Canadian FHE event of next year: CPES2019. It will take place in the Montreal area the last week of May 2019, and we’re currently working with our stakeholder partners to finalize a definitive venue and date.
Look for more information, plus our call for speakers, in early January!
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Spotlight on Funding Opportunities
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Just two spots left to exhibit at or attend LOPEC
Expand your market to the EU in 2019!
 Join intelliFLEX members GGI, Varitron, TF Massif, Memtronik, NRC, ICI, Voltera and Brilliant Matters in the Canadian delegation to LOPEC in Munich, Germany.
SMEs can receive financial support to attend or exhibit at LOPEC, but there are only two spots left: one to attend, and one to exhibit. Others are also welcome to join the delegation, but without financial support.
Information for exhibitors can be found here. Global Affairs program guidelines can be found here.
This is on a first come, first served basis. Call or email Peter Kallai at 613-505-4775 or pkallai@intelliflex.org today!
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Ontario SMEs: apmaTEC calls for autonomous technology for vehicles
 The apmaTEC, an initiative led by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association (APMA) and the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), is seeking technology proposals from Ontario SMEs as it equips a fleet of connected and autonomous vehicles.
The amount of money pouring into the development of next-generation vehicles is something intelliFLEX members would be wise to heed. Application examples include smart seats, other smart sensing surfaces, new mold panels that take advantage of in-mold electronics, photovoltaic coatings, and new display technologies embedded in the windshield (HUD displays).
Over the next five years, the apmaTEC will build a fleet of 20 vehicles including commercial buses, utility vehicles, minivans, SUVs, CUVs and sedans. Each vehicle will have up to 10 pieces of connected/autonomous technology installed and will be showcased to global OEMs and Tier 1-2 suppliers.
IntelliFLEX has strong experience in FHE applications for automotive and is available to consult with members about application approaches, including the creation of multi-company consortiums.
More information, including eligibility criteria, can be found here.
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Canadian Trademark Law update
By Randy Marusyk and Hyun Woo Choi,
MBM Intellectual Property Law
Amendments to the Canadian Trade-marks Act will come into force on June 17, 2019. This will include new Trademarks Regulations which will impact the Canadian trademark regime in several  ways, and will bring Canadian law in line with major international trademark treaties such as the Singapore Treaty on Law of Trademarks (Singapore Treaty), the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol), and the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Agreement).
Some of the most important changes are summarized below:
Expanded definition of Trademarks: The definition of trademark will be expanded to include "a word, a personal name, a design, a letter, a numeral, a colour, a figurative element, a three-dimensional shape, a hologram, a moving image, a mode of packaging goods, a sound, a scent, a taste, a texture and the positioning of a sign."
No date of first use in applications: Requirement to identify the first use of a mark in Canada is removed for trademark application.
No declaration of use required for "proposed use": It is no longer required to file a declaration of use to proceed to trademark registration.
Ability to divide and merge applications: Trademark application can be divided to expedite the registration process especially when there is opposition to certain goods or services. Divided applications and registrations originated from the divided applications can be merged later.
New registration term: The registration term for trademarks will be shortened from 15 years to 10 years; therefore renewal of trademark registration will be required every 10 years. Terms for existing trademark registrations will remain 15 years.
International filing through single Canadian Application: Canada will be joining Madrid Protocol and applicants will able to file trademarks in multiple countries (members of Madrid Protocol) through a single Canadian Application.
New classification system: Any goods and services will be classified based on the Nice Agreement classification system, as in many other countries.
Per class filing fee: Filing fees and renewal fees will be charged based upon classes that the trademark is associated with.
MBM Intellectual Property Law is an intelliFLEX member located in Ottawa. For more information, please contact MBM Partner Randy Marusyk at rmarusyk@mbm.com, or Associate Hyun Woo Choi at hchoi@mbm.com.
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intelliFLEX and Industry News
It's easy to submit your news to us! Articles will appear in the News and Events sections of our website, and this newsletter.
Please use the online form on our public site.
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Three innovation superclusters receive funding,
ready to move forward
The Ontario-based Next Generation Manufacturing Supercluster will receive $230M as one of three superclusters set to receive funding from the Government of Canada's Innovation Supercluster Initiative. The $950M initiative will fund two other superclusters – the Prairie-based Protein Industries Canada Supercluster, and Atlantic Canada's Ocean Supercluster.
The Manufacturing Supercluster will build Canada’s capabilities in areas such as 3D printing and advanced robotics, and is predicted to create 13,500 jobs and add more than $13.5B to the Canadian economy over the next decade.
Full Story
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Varitron acquires XCELSIA Technologies
Varitron has acquired Mirabel, QC-based XCELSIA Technologies, a manufacturing services provider specializing in electronic circuit assembly. Varitron will absorb XCELSIA’s 15 employees along with its Mirabel facility, which will be dedicated to prototyping and small-batch production. Varitron says the additional facility will allow it to better serve the Greater Ottawa Region and access a broader pool of talent.
Full story
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Myant launches SKIINcore on Kickstarter 
Myant has announced that its new SKIINcore wire-free, heated base layer has launched on Kickstarter. The ultra-thin base layer can be worn under virtually any clothing, and delivers 18 watts of heating power for up to eight hours. It also features machine learning capabilities that can adapt to a user’s optimal temperature, automatically adjusting to deliver heat in the right places and at the right time.
Full Story
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Sun Chemical raises ink prices for 2019
Sun Chemical will raise prices on its solvent- and water-based inks in Europe in the new year, citing the rising cost of raw materials including solvents, acrylic derivatives, organic pigments and polyols, and isocyanates. Prices will climb an average of four to five per cent, with certain colours (such as R169, azo yellows and reds, and phatalo blues) set to rise even higher. The company also said ongoing tightening of Chinese environmental regulations at chemical plants has played a role in increasing supply chain costs.
Full story
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Smart packaging 70x more effective than display
ads, according to European analysis
Printed Electronics Now discusses the megatrend of smart packaging, which is according to intelliFLEX members Sun Chemical and Jones Packaging is accelerating. Across 13 EU countries where Kilchoman NFC-labeled whiskey bottles were sold, the packaging was 70 times more effective than display ads and three times as effective as email or search marketing. James Lee
of Jones Packaging says he’s “definitely seeing an increase” in smart packaging interest.
Full story
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The growing promise of printed electronics 
Brewer Science Executive Director Dan Brewer talks to Semiconductor Engineering about the evolution of printing electronics using conductive ink rather than lithography. With chipmakers looking to commercialize the technology across a broad range of applications, Brewer says one of the main benefits of printed electronics using conductive ink is the ability to generate large amounts of data, which in turn can facilitate things like predictive maintenance.
Full Story
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Harris Corp. tests performance of 3D printed RF circuits
In recent testing using Nano Dimension’s DragonFly Pro 2020 electronic circuit 3D printer, Harris Corp. discovered that the performance of 3D printed radio frequency circuits is comparable to that of circuits created using conventional manufacturing techniques. Typically, the development of these circuits is a long, multi-step process, but Harris Corp. used Nano Dimension’s 3D printing technology to print a 101 x 38 mm thick circuit in just 10 hours.
Full story
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Manulife introduces new wearables program
Manulife will launch its Vitality program, which can be integrated with virtually any wearable device, in Canada this coming spring. The technology-based program can be integrated with smartwatches, fitness bands and other wearables and is meant to motivate employees to make healthy choices. The company says the program includes eight million members globally, adding that its John Hancock affiliate in the U.S. has offered it since 2015.
The program is a partnership between Manulife and Vitality Group. This is a major milestone for wearables in Canada, and great opportunity for intelliFLEX members involved in wearables technology to engage with an opportunity close to home.
Full story
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Spotlight on New Members
GrapheneCA
GrapheneCA is a privately owned, commercial scale graphene and graphene-based materials producer and supply company HQ'd in New York. It is dedicated to tackling the challenge of integrating graphene into real-world applications through the use of its own highly effective, scalable, and environmentally friendly production process. GrapheneCA has developed a production facility in New York and currently produces pristine 1-3 and 5-8-layer stacked graphite flakes with less than 0.03% oxygen contamination on a large scale. GrapheneCA’s proven technology is patented in the U.S. and China.
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Advertise with intelliFLEX
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Showcase your business.
Tell your story.
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Every business has a story to tell about how it’s different and what’s compelling about its offering. IntelliFLEX can help
tell yours.
Take advantage of our years of experience in B2B marketing and journalism and turn intelliFLEX into your very own on-demand marketing department! We can create compelling success stories to showcase your company to the world, and support your business development efforts.
You can view our advertising rate card here.
To advertise in our newsletter or website, please contact Jim Donnelly at jdonnelly@intelliflex.org or 613.505.4775 x102.
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intelliFLEX and MEMBER RESOURCES
Build your dream team with OPE Careers
Build your dream team for printable, flexible, and hybrid electronics with OPE Careers, a unique web portal to promote your career opportunities across North America and abroad.
Some recently posted positions:
Have you checked out OPE-Careers.com?
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Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events
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ARE YOU PART OF THE CONVERSATION?
In addition to receiving our regular email communications, don’t forget to follow us on social media:
On Twitter: @intelliFLEX_org
On LinkedIn: Join our Groups – Printed Electronics Network, intelliPACK, intelliWEAR – or follow us on our intelliFLEX profile page. Our Printed Electronics Network, for example, has just passed 3,000 members!
Don’t miss the opportunity to establish your industry thought leadership and promote your products and services to our engaged, global audiences.
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