Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present petitions on behalf of several of my constituents and people in British Columbia.
The petition states that larger businesses, both foreign and domestic, use smaller and more innovative Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs as a form of free market research and product development. Knowing that small businesses cannot afford to protect their ideas, they duplicate and patent protected ideas.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to protect small business and entrepreneurs and to create legislation deeming wilful and/or international patent infringement a criminal offence.