Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here to speak to part 3, division 3, clauses 44 to 72 on intellectual property. My name is Jeffrey Astle. I'm appearing on behalf of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, or IPIC. I serve on IPIC's governing council as the immediate past presi

Finance committee  Yes. The institute that I represent represents agents and lawyers, who represent clients across the spectrum.

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely. Regardless of the size of your business, if you're unable to respond to a patent office request in a timely manner, you may lose your rights, absolutely. By granting an opportunity for the commissioner to declare a force majeure event and extend the time to resp

Finance committee  Make them more efficient? I think it grants them the ability to deal with situations, if the commissioner were to declare a date of that kind, to be able to respond on behalf of their clients in a manner they would not otherwise be able to do.

Finance committee  As I mentioned in my testimony, countries such as the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, for example, have established laws to extend privilege to communications between intellectual property advisers and their clients. Intellectual property rights, such as patent and trademark ri

Finance committee  Absolutely. If you can appreciate, Canadian innovators are most likely to seek advice from Canadian intellectual property advisers. Therefore, without these changes, their communications are subject to being revealed in litigation in other counties. So it puts Canadian innovators

Finance committee  Sure, I'll give it a try. Today, if your client were to seek advice from an IP adviser, the discussions necessary for them to determine the type of protection that the company wishes to obtain and how to craft their intellectual property rights—their patents, for example—may all

Finance committee  I'm not aware of everyone who was consulted in connection with these changes, but I do know that the associations; the law societies, the Federation of Law Societies, for example; the Canadian Bar Association; and others that have an interest in these were consulted and had an op

Finance committee  We were, as were they, yes.

Finance committee  I have personally been in discussions with these associations—the law societies, the Federation of Law Societies, and the Canadian Bar Association—in my personal experience since as early as 2004. There's been a lot of debate and discussion and a number of opportunities for consu

Finance committee  Maybe I'm not understanding the question. I admit not knowing the entire process behind the development of legislation, but in my understanding, the concepts, which are relatively straightforward, have been discussed at length in the act. Consultations and opportunity to consult

Finance committee  I don't believe there has been a failing. I believe that the associations that represent lawyers, as well as the associations that represent the various law societies, have been consulted. There has been in-depth study. They've had the opportunity to provide their input. I believ

Finance committee  I've had an opportunity to read the Law Society's letter. It reflects positions that were put forward in 2004, as well as in 2013. They're the same arguments that have been presented over the last decade. I don't believe it sets an appropriate precedent. In fact, it recognizes th

Finance committee  I have asked that question myself. I think part of it is that it's a relatively nuanced subject. It's taken some time to discuss with officials and with members of Parliament, for example, to educate them on the issue and why it's important. It just takes a bit of time, I think,

Finance committee  The enactments that have occurred in other countries have occurred sporadically over time. Some of the amendments in the U.K., I believe, were in the 1990s, and in Australia and New Zealand a little later. The United States is currently studying this, because with the number of