Unfortunately, I don't have the study in front of me to tell you where we rank with the U.S. Obviously our corporate tax rate is lower.
As to how we keep innovation, attract innovation, and attract new manufacturing through the patent box, first, does everyone understand what the patent box does? Yes? Not sure? Okay.
The patent box is a tax regime that applies a preferential tax rate, obviously a lower tax rate, to taxable income earned from the sale of property that includes an intellectual property component. That intellectual property component was either developed in Canada and licensed exclusively for use in Canada or else acquired by a Canadian company. This IP could be a patent. We call it a patent box, but it doesn't always have to be a patent. It could also be a copyright that relates to computer programming code. It could be trade secrets. In certain cases it could be plant breeder rights.
The patent box is used in over 12 countries already, and, as we mentioned, in Quebec and Saskatchewan, but not one jurisdiction uses it in exactly the same way. They tailor it to meet the needs of their country. Our recommendation is that we implement a patent box model such that.... 3M Canada does not own the R and D that we are developing here in Canada. It is owned by our parent, which is a regular situation with multinationals, but we would be licensing it back. If we can put forth an argument that we should be charged a lower tax rate if we manufacture and commercialize that IP, it makes Canada more competitive when 3M is making the decisions about where their manufacturing mandates will be located around the globe.