Question Period Note: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

What is the Federal Government doing to equip Canadian entrepreneurs to protect and leverage their intellectual property (IP)?

• Canadians are smart, creative and innovative and they need the know-how and tools to protect and leverage their ideas for commercial success;
• In our increasingly intangible economy, protection and strategic use of IP is becoming more important;
• That is why the Federal Government created the Intellectual Property Strategy, helping Canadians understand the value of their IP and giving them tools to leverage it; and
• It is also helping make Canada a leader in generating and strategically leveraging IP investments to benefit Canadian innovation.

SUPPLEMENTARY MESSAGES
If pressed on the impact of CUSMA (Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement):
• The CUSMA reinforces the critical role of IP in the global economy. This is at the heart of Canada’s IP Strategy, as the Government seeks to make Canada a leader in generating and leveraging IP investments to the benefit of the Canadian innovation ecosystem.
• The Government intends to implement all CUSMA obligations in a fair and balanced manner, with an overarching goal of maintaining the competitiveness of the Canadian marketplace in the global economy.

On April 26, 2018, a number of IP programs and initiatives were introduced to help Canadian entrepreneurs better understand and protect IP. These include:
• Amendments to key IP laws to reduce barriers to innovation, including to the Patent, Copyright and Trademarks Acts to clarify acceptable practices and to prevent misuses of IP rights; and
• The creation of a College of Patent and Trademark Agents to ensure that professional and ethical standards are maintained, and support the provision of quality advice.

Additional programs and initiatives focusing on education, awareness and outreach, including:
• An IP awareness and use survey, to be conducted by Statistics Canada to help understand how Canadians are using IP;
• An awareness and education program, led by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office to increase organizations’ understanding of IP;
• Establishing better IP governance in the Government;
• Creating a team of IP experts to provide advice to federal government program officers working with businesses, creators, and officials to boost engagement with IP; and
• Support for IP Clinics at law schools, which provide basic IP advice.

Initiatives that provide strategic IP tools for growth including:
• Accelerated dispute resolution at the federal court on IP issues and expedited tariff setting by the Copyright Board;
• An IP marketplace that will provide one-stop web-based access to IP owned by Canadian governments and universities that can be bought or licensed;
• Support for the inclusion of Canadian-owned IP in international standards;
• A patent collective to enable firms to share IP expertise.

Bill C-86 included amendments to key IP frameworks, including the Patent, Copyright and Trademarks Acts that clarify acceptable practices and prevent misuses of IP rights. Bill C-86 received Royal Assent in December 2018 and most of these amendments are now in force.

CUSMA

The CUSMA will create new minimum standards across all areas of IP protection and enforcement.

The IP chapter will provide Canadian exporters and investors with a predictable and transparent framework of rules across the North American marketplace.

The ratification of the CUSMA would require a number of changes to Canada’s IP laws, notably:
• For biologic drugs, a term of data protection of 10 years (Canada currently provides a term of eight years); and
• A general term of copyright protection of “life plus 70 years” for works of authorship (Canada currently has a term of “life plus 50 years”).

Canada has a transition period of five years on data protection for biologic drugs, and 2.5 years on term of protection for copyright, following the entry into force of the agreement to implement these obligations.

The new agreement also includes provisions on Internet service provider liability to address online infringement, which enable Canada to maintain its current “notice-and-notice” regime.

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