For many years, Canada's intellectual property legislation was viewed as an outlier by other developed countries. From unlimited wares and services for a single filing fee, to the lack of a classification system for wares and services, to a failure to participate in international trade-mark application protocols, Canada's intellectual property regime was seen as languishing in a past era.
The road to change has begun. On January 27, 2014, the Canadian government tabled five intellectual property treaties in the House of Commons. These treaties are the Madrid Protocol; the Hague Agreement; the Singapore Treaty; the Nice Agreement; and the Patent Law Treaty.
The Madrid Protocol enables trade-mark owners to more easily obtain registered trade-mark protection by permitting the filing of a single application to register trade-marks in multiple countries. The Hague Agreement enables similar protection for industrial design (design patent) owners.
The Singapore Treaty and Nice Agreement relate to administrative aspects of the trade-mark registration process. In particular, there has been significant discussion in the past surrounding the Nice Agreement, as its adoption will result in a dramatic shift in the Canadian trade-mark regime by implementing a class-based system of goods and services. The Singapore Treaty facilitates a simpler and smoother registration process by implementing certain requirements and standards when it comes to applications.
The Patent Law Treaty harmonizes a number of formal procedures in respect of patent applications and patents, including, for example, harmonizing the requirements to obtain a filing date for an application.
In accordance with usual Parliamentary procedure, there is a 21 sitting day waiting period before the government can introduce the required implementing legislation for these treaties. By our calculations, this period ends in the first week of March. We anticipate that the implementing legislation will necessitate many amendments to Canada's intellectual property statutes.
This is the culmination of many years of debate and to the extent these treaties are ratified, Canada's intellectual property regime will finally be consistent with that of most other developed countries. However, given the need for significant amendments to our country's current intellectual property legislation, we believe that there remains a long road ahead. Canada is not bound by these treaties until the implementing legislation is adopted.
We will publish a further update in due course.
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