Shalon McFarlane is an Executive in Residence and IP Specialist. Shalon is a highly experienced professional in technology commercialization, innovation, and technical communication

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify and differentiate between the various types of intellectual property (IP), including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
• Understand the role of IP in innovation and commercialization, with real-world examples of how businesses use IP strategically.
• Perform a basic patent and trademark search using publicly available databases.
• Conduct an IP audit to assess their company’s intellectual property assets.

About Shalon: Shalon McFarlane is a Senior Venture Portfolio Analyst at Edmonton Unlimited, where she leads performance tracking and strategic oversight for startups from pre-seed to growth stage. A self-proclaimed IP nerd with a background in physics, she blends data-driven insight with a passion for innovation and intellectual property to drive measurable outcomes across Edmonton’s venture ecosystem.