Thank you, Chair, and welcome, Ms. May, to the committee.
We have two amendments to this section. Both are based on concerns that were presented at the industry committee. Of course, members at this table were not present at those hearings because of the process the government is using, which makes all of this a little more difficult. Particular concerns were expressed there about what would happen to patent regimes in Canada, such as increased litigation costs for Canadian companies, and trying to sort out this piece of legislation which, again, we believe is presented poorly in the midst of an omnibus bill.
There is a due care requirement and an alleviation of that requirement that caused a number of concerns to those who work in patent law. Again, if we're going to call witnesses and listen to experts, then they should be affecting the legislation we're drawing on.
The amendments we've provided here today, according to the witnesses we heard, provide more legal certainty and reduce the amount of litigation, not only for Canadian businesses but for the Canadian taxpayer who'll be fighting that litigation in court. If we're going to go through the process of hearing from folks who know a lot more about this than we do, then certainly we should be taking their testimony. At the industry committee, we found this was a very strong and consensual position. We drafted it into an amendment that was coherent with what was said by the experts in the field. That's what the amendment seeks to do.
Thank you, Chair.