Canadian legal principles regulating intellectual property are generally similar to those in most other industrialized countries and World Trade Organization
Canadian legal principles regulating intellectual property are generally similar to those in most other industrialized countries and World Trade Organization (WTO) members (with some notable exceptions that can affect the protection of intellectual property rights in Canada). Canadian intellectual property is primarily governed by federal statutes, which regulate patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs, integrated circuit topographies and plant breeders’ rights. The common law also protects certain intellectual property, including unregistered trademarks, trade secrets, personality rights and confidential information. The administration of Canadian statutory intellectual property matters, including the registration of intellectual property rights, is managed by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Patents Canadian patents are governed by the federal Patent Act , which is generally consistent with patent legislation in other countries that, like Canada, are signatories to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Canada is also a signatory to the Canada- United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Patent Law Treaty. To be the subject matter of a Canadian patent, an invention must be novel and useful, and must not be obvious to a person skilled in the particular art or subject matter of the invention. The invention may be any new and useful product, process, machine, composition of matter or any improvement thereof. Unlike patents in the United States, Canadian patents do not include designs, which are separately protected under the Industrial Design Act (discussed below). To be novel, an invention and the related claims of the patent must not have been previously disclosed or published in Canada or anywhere else in the world (however, a patent may still be granted if the application is filed within 12 months of the date the applicant or a person who gained knowledge of the invention through the applicant disclosed the invention to the public in Canada or elsewhere in the world).
members (with some notable
exceptions that can affect the protection of intellectual property rights in Canada).
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Doing Business in Canada
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