A look at Canada's footprint in the world of IP

From: Canadian Intellectual Property Office

Beyond administering intellectual property (IP) rights and disseminating IP data and research, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) advocates for Canada's IP interests both domestically and internationally, advances IP harmonization and supports the negotiation and implementation of trade agreements. CIPO contributes to the effective functioning of the IP system, helping Canadian innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses grow and prosper in domestic and global markets.

By the numbers: Canada's presence on the global stage

Number of applications received by CIPO for IP rights in 2022:
- Patents - 4,757 applications from Canadians and 34,952 applications from foreign applicants
- Trademarks - 27,219 applications from Canadians and 52,589 applications from foreign applicants
- Industrial designs - 627 applications from Canadians and 8,440 from foreign applicants
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s IP statistical country profile in 2022(PDF version, 189 KB, 2 pages):
- Out of 25,562 patent applications filed by Canadians, 82% (20,998) were filed abroad
- For trademarks, out of 202,119 trademark filings, 73% (148,212) were filed abroad
- For industrial designs, out of 15,352 applications, 95% (14,629) were filed abroad
The top 3 places where Canadians were filing their IP outside of Canada are the United States, followed by China and the European Union (EU), with China and the EU seeing a swift rise in IP filings from Canada since 2018.
In general, these stats tell us that Canadians understand where their important foreign markets are in the global economy and ensure that their IP is protected and secured in those key markets:
- We have country-specific guides to help you register your IP in these countries
- Getting the help of an IP professional to carve out this space can be a useful strategy

IP imports and exports

Canada is a major international destination and source of IP rights. Each year, almost 160,000 applications for patents, trademarks and industrial designs are coming to CIPO from applicants around the world and from Canadian residents, and are filed in other jurisdictions by Canadians.

The graph below from CIPO's IP Canada Report 2021 shows the flow of IP applications in and out of Canada. The left side demonstrates the "flow in" of IP into Canada, while the right side demonstrates the "flow out" into other countries. As you can see, the United States and China are at the top position for both, as they are Canada's biggest trading partners. If you're planning on doing business abroad, you will need to consider how to protect your IP abroad.

Figure 1. Flow of IP applications into Canada in 2020 by origin (left) and from Canada in 2019 by destination (right)

Figure 1 - Text version

Figure 1 is a Sankey diagram that maps the flow of IP applications into Canada by origin and out of Canada by destination. The centre of the diagram shows a representation of the Canadian flag, with IP applications to Canada on the left side and IP applications from Canada on the right side. Each side shows flow bars for the top 9 filing origins or destinations, as well as a flow bar for all remaining countries combined. The width of the flow bars is proportional to the number of IP applications to or from that jurisdiction.

Patents

In 2022, CIPO received 39,709 patent applications, the highest number of filings since 2012
You can search through the patents filed in Canada on CIPO's Patents Database
Keep in mind that patents are usually published after 18 months
Canadian applicants hold the 13th place (PDF version, 189 KB, 2 pages) for most applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), an international patent law treaty that provides patent protection in multiple countries through a single cost-efficient application
The top filing destinations for Canadians filing for patents protection abroad in 2022 were the United States, Germany, China and France

Industrial designs

The top international destinations for Canadian industrial design applicants in 2022 were the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom
In Canada, the top 10 Canadian registered industrial design proprietors are mostly in the fashion or consumer goods industries
Many of the companies protecting their industrial designs in Canada are foreign companies
Take a look at the Canadian Industrial Designs Database to see what has been filed

Trademarks

In 2020, 69,793 trademark applications were filed with CIPO, establishing a new record, with a 2% increase from 2019. From this total, 27,963 applications were from Canadian residents, while 41,830 were from non-residents.

According to WIPO, in Canada, trademark examiners process an average of 2,000 applications (PDF version, 189 KB, 2 pages) in a year, compared to just over 1,000 in the United States(PDF version, 193 KB, 2 pages). The top foreign destination for Canadian trademark applicants was the United States, which we can attribute to the fact that Canadians tend to expand their businesses into the United States due to the larger market there.

Over the past decade...

Applications for IP rights in Canada by foreign residents have grown at a steady rate (PDF version, 5.4 MB, 62 pages) of 5% for patents, 60% for trademarks and 33% for industrial designs—signaling a rise in foreign interest in the Canadian market
Since 2009, trademark applications filed by Canadians have increased by 139%
- Consult CIPO's IP roadmap on trademarks for information about how to apply
While patent filing activity decreased in Canada for resident applicants, non-resident filings have increased by 4% in the last decade

New IP initiatives in Canada

Canada has launched new initiatives to help Canadians understand the value of their IP and build IP strategies:

The IP Village is a collaboration created to help Canadian businesses better understand how to use IP more effectively, which includes the Business Development Bank of Canada, CIPO, the Trade Commissioner Service(TCS), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP)
ElevateIP is a 4-year, $90-million program that helps business accelerators and incubators provide the tools Canadian startups need to understand, strategically manage and leverage their IP
ISED's ExploreIP is an online tool that allows businesses to explore IP licensing and collaboration opportunities with government, academia and other public sector institutions
IP Assist supports NRC IRAP client firms to more effectively leverage their IP by providing targeted IP support services to help them transform innovations into valuable assets, support their commercial goals and gain a sustainable competitive advantage by strategically leveraging their IP
- If you're an NRC IRAP client, reach out to your industrial technology advisor for more information about IP Assist
If you're an innovative Canadian company that isn't yet working with NRC IRAP, visit the NRC IRAP page to learn more about NRC IRAP and IP Assist
CanExport is a funding program offered by the TCS, to help Canadian companies connect with potential foreign partners and pursue new business opportunities abroad

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