Earlier this summer we provided the committee with a series of recommendations to help drive further investment into research, development, innovation, and commercialization. These recommendations support the economic action plan, Advantage Canada economic framework, and the global markets action plan. Stability and predictability are the focus of our comments this afternoon.
To start we congratulate the government on signing the comprehensive economic and trade agreement, CETA, with the European Union. Swift implementation of the IP provisions within CETA, including the right of appeal for innovators, patent term restoration, and enshrining eight years of data protection will send an important signal that says Canada is serious about harmonizing its IP regime to global levels.
Last month my company, Janssen, announced an agreement with the University of Toronto's Centre for Collaborative Drug Research to form an open source collaboration focused on new therapeutic approaches to the treatment and management of mood disorders and Alzheimer's disease. This project called neuroscience catalyst is a unique collaboration between government, industry, and the research community. This important global Johnson and Johnson investment was strongly influenced as a result of the successful IP negotiations within CETA. IP improvements will better arm companies like mine and our other members to compete globally within our own organizations to attract investment mandates into our country.
While CETA addresses some important IP issues, there is still more work to do. For example, a series of judicial cases has resulted in a test for patent utility that is higher than the bar applied in other countries. Fortunately, this issue will be considered by the Supreme Court shortly. We sincerely hope that their decision will align Canadian standards with those applied to our major trading partners.