Consultation period
October 9, 2014 to December 9, 2014
Consultation documents
Consultation and discussion
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is holding an official consultation on the report entitled Modernizing the IP Community from October 9, 2014 to December 9, 2014.
As part of the Government of Canada's efforts to encourage and support innovation, there has been significant effort made over the last several years to modernize Canada's intellectual property (IP) framework to better align it with international practices and reduce the administrative burden for Canadian businesses. During this same period, CIPO has also been working to transform its services to business to more effectively support their innovative undertakings. These efforts have coincided with the ongoing interest of the IP agent community to deliver the best services possible to Canadian businesses.
Within this environment of IP modernization and service improvements, CIPO and the IP agent community recognized the importance of also modernizing the way in which they do business together to support the needs of Canadian businesses in protecting and managing their IP. A collaborative effort between CIPO and the IP professional community was identified as an effective way to move forward. Consequently, three working groups comprised of representatives from CIPO and the IP professional community examined three specific areas and developed recommendations:
- The maintenance and oversight of the register/list of patent and trademark agents.
- The qualification and maintenance of patent and trademark agents on the register/list.
- A values and ethics framework for patent and trademark agents.
The recommendations of the working groups are contained in the final report, Modernizing the IP Community. CIPO is seeking to gather a variety of views to assess the degree to which these proposed recommendations meet the needs of the business community and the IP professional community.
Contact information
Should you have any questions about this consultation, please send them by email to OPIC-CIPO.consultations@ic.gc.ca, by fax at 819-953-8638, or by regular mail to the following address:
Canadian Intellectual Property Office
Policy, Planning, International and Research Office
50 Victoria Street
Place du Portage II
Gatineau, QC K1A 0C9
Attention: Konstantinos Georgaras, Director of Policy, Planning, International Affairs and Research Office