Evidence of meeting #39 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was universities.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to ask the witnesses a question about the process to get a patent. The process is shorter in the United States than in Canada.
Could you tell us what options the government or the committee should consider to improve the process and make it shorter?
12:45 p.m.
Vice-President, Corporate Research and Development, COM DEV International Ltd.
I would definitely love to have it shorter, because the patent lawyers cost me a fortune. I think we are struggling with the length of time it takes. It does eat up a lot of resources and time. It is cumbersome.
However, that stated, it is becoming very difficult, because the novelty is becoming less and less in the technology itself. We do have to be careful; sometimes people take five or six years, but they are really pursuing something that's very marginal, which is not necessarily the best thing for patents going forward. It would be useful to have that done more quickly, so that people could say, “I have these patents supporting my business and the backbone is protected.”
12:45 p.m.
Director, Intellectual Property, Canadian International Council (CIC)
There are also arguments that we could upgrade the antiquated databases of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office so that they could be searched more easily online. A lot of people say they can search online in the U.S. easily but cannot do it here.
Another thing that a lot of the entrepreneurs I have talked to said was that we should let third parties contest an application before a patent is granted, because it's a great way to weed out some of the bad apples. Israel, for example, publishes applications and allows people to contest them. Then they look at the bad ones a little more.
One way to do it faster is to try to weed out some of the bad ones that clog up the system in patent thickets.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Let me ask Madam Boily something.
You talked about intellectual property rights in relation to government procurement. What is the practice in other countries?
What happens when a Canadian company goes elsewhere, for example? Does it negotiate those laws with foreign governments?
12:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Policy and Competitiveness, Aerospace Industries Association of Canada
Usually, other countries have their own aircraft. In Canada, we have a very small defence market. As a result, we are forced to buy our aircraft, our trucks and all our military equipment elsewhere. So, if we compare ourselves to other countries that make their own aircraft or tanks, they do not have the same problem we have here in Canada.
One of our problems is that our companies do not have access to the intellectual property when they buy planes; they cannot even offer their services abroad because they do not have the intellectual property. In addition, they do not have access to those foreign markets because they are very restricted. The World Trade Organization allows governments to keep work in their own countries for reasons like national security reasons.
We are getting the short end of the stick in both cases. We don't have a defence industry or a big enough market. And we cannot get access to other countries very easily.
I am not sure if that answers your question.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
That is great, thank you.
Should the regime for patents be different for different industries? If different industries have different natures, should there be longer or shorter patent periods depending on the nature of the industry? Do you have any views on that?
12:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Policy and Competitiveness, Aerospace Industries Association of Canada
Do you mean something like a fast track for aerospace?
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
12:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Corporate Research and Development, COM DEV International Ltd.
I think the duration is adequate. Technology changes now very quickly. We've had some patents expire that have been there for 20 years, and the technology changed so much that we had new patents that were done five or eight years ago to protect the next product. The cycle is becoming faster, so the length of time is adequate at this point in time.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Madam Harvey, are you concerned that reduced emphasis on SR and ED will mean that instead of companies making the decisions about where to invest, government will be making those decisions?
12:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Public Affairs, Aerospace Industries Association of Canada
No. In the end, of course, companies make their own decisions, but it's based on a very global landscape and based on how attractive other nations make themselves to foreign investments.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Thank you very much, Mr. Regan.
On behalf of the committee, thank you very much to our witnesses.
Go ahead, Madam Gallant.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
There were a number of recommendations made today. I'm wondering if you would instruct the analyst to itemize the recommendations so that, when we eventually do our report, we have them separated out and referenced to our witnesses, so that we can talk about incorporating them into our final report.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
12:50 p.m.
NDP
Dan Harris NDP Scarborough Southwest, ON
On a separate point, since the notice for Thursday's meeting has gone out, there are several notices of motions that have been submitted, and I noticed there was no time for business at the end of this schedule for the next meeting.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
The committee had agreed that at the next meeting, the last 15 minutes was to take a look at where we are in the IP study, based on the summary that was done for us, and to talk about next steps. That's presently what's been agreed upon.
12:50 p.m.
NDP
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
No, I felt everybody knew we'd take the last 15 minutes, but we can certainly redo the notice if you want.
12:50 p.m.
NDP
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Yes, it will be, but it was specifically for the review of the situation vis-à-vis the IP study.
Sorry; I was interrupted there. I wanted to say, on behalf of the committee, thank you very much for your testimony today.
The meeting is adjourned.
