2019-2020 Annual Report
About CIPO

CIPO is a special operating agency of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and is responsible for the administration and processing of IP in Canada. We have more than 1,000 employees and operate under a revolving fund authority. Our accountabilities are maintained through this annual report to Parliament, an annual private sector financial audit and our client service standards.

Areas of activity

Patents: A patent is a legal right to prevent others from making, using or selling an invention for up to 20 years. The invention can be any of the following:

  • a product (e.g. a door lock)
  • a chemical composition (e.g. a chemical composition used in lubricants for door locks)
  • a machine (e.g. a machine that makes door locks)
  • a process (e.g. a method for making door locks)
  • an improvement on any of these

Trademarks: A trademark is used to distinguish the goods or services of a person or an organization from those of others. It can be any of the following, or a combination thereof: words, designs, tastes, textures, moving images, modes of packaging, holograms, sounds, scents, 3-dimensional shapes and colours.

A registered trademark provides exclusive rights to use the mark for 10 years (a term that is renewable) and protects it under law from misuse by others.

Geographical indications: A geographical indication is used on a product (i.e. wine, spirits, agricultural products and food) that has a specific geographical origin and possesses qualities or a reputation attributable to that origin. The term of protection for a geographical indication is indefinite.

Industrial designs: An industrial design comprises the visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament, or any combination of these features applied to a finished article. In other words, it is about how something looks. An industrial design registration provides exclusive rights for up to 15 years and protects a product's unique appearance.

Copyright: Copyright is the exclusive legal right to produce, reproduce, sell, license, publish or perform any of the following, as long as it is an original:

  • a literary work
  • an artistic work
  • a dramatic work
  • a musical work
  • a sound recording
  • a communication signal
  • a performance

Unlike other IP rights, a copyright subsists in an original work from the moment it is created. Generally, copyright protection lasts for the lifetime of the author, plus 50 years after their death. In Canada, a certificate of registration of copyright is evidence that copyright exists and that the person registered is the owner.

Business priorities

CIPO's Five-Year Business Strategy 2017–2022 articulates a clear vision of how we can contribute to Canada's innovation and economic success, lays out the results we seek to achieve for our clients and shows where we want to be as an organization.

Advance innovation

Through a modern IP framework and active international collaboration

Deliver quality and timely IP rights

Based on modern, efficient and quality-based services and processes

Build IP awareness and education

By equipping innovators in Canada with the IP knowledge they need to succeed

Offer a modern service experience

Through e-enabled services and a strong customer focus

Foster an agile and high-performing organization

By investing in our staff and our workplace and managing our business with probity