What you need to know
Under Bill C-13, emergency measures will now be available to
Canadians and Canadian businesses.
Bill C-13 received royal assent on March 25
and enacts changes to more than 15 laws, including the Patent
Act.
Section 19.4 states the commissioner will have to grant a licence
to the Government of Canada or any person specified by the latter
for any patented invention, when it is deemed necessary to respond
to a public health emergency in the national interest.
Under the current circumstances, the Government of Canada will be
able to benefit from innovations that can help combat the spread of
COVID-19 and get these new technologies, such as new respiratory
masks, quickly to healthcare workers. This authorization to use
inventions, when granted, will not constitute an infringement of a
patent or registered industrial design. However, the government
must pay adequate compensation in the circumstances to the owners
of the intellectual property.
One might wonder why in this time of crisis, the government has
implemented such an amendment. It may be a safe to assume that some
inventions have already been targeted for use. We will keep you
posted.
Our technology infrastructure enables our professionals and staff
to work remotely for an extended period. As such, we will continue
to meet original CIPO deadlines as instructed by clients. The
extension, however, provides clients a safety net to help navigate
this unprecedented situation.
For more information on the legal implications of COVID-19, please
consult our
COVID-19 Hub. As a full-service global firm with offices across
Canada, Norton Rose Fulbright is closely monitoring this evolving
situation over a number of practice areas, including employment and
labour, risk advisory, banking and finance, corporate, M&A and
securities, and dispute resolution and litigation, and across a
variety of industries, including energy, infrastructure, mining and
commodities, financial institutions, life sciences and healthcare,
technology and innovation, and transport.
About Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm. We provide the world's preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. We have 3800 lawyers and other legal staff based in more than 50 cities across Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.
Recognized for our industry focus, we are strong across all the key industry sectors: financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and life sciences and healthcare.
Wherever we are, we operate in accordance with our global business principles of quality, unity and integrity. We aim to provide the highest possible standard of legal service in each of our offices and to maintain that level of quality at every point of contact.
For more information about Norton Rose Fulbright, see nortonrosefulbright.com/legal-notices.
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