Industry committee  That's a good question. The answer is quite complicated. We can probably speak off-line if you want to look at the details. I want to leave you with a few tidbits of information. One, when we grant a trademark it has a national scope. Two, official marks are trademarks that we g

Industry committee  We need to look at the details for that one, unfortunately.

Industry committee  I'm not aware of such a limitation.

Industry committee  No.

Industry committee  I'm getting into a bit of unfamiliar territory with respect to the Trade-marks Act.

Industry committee  We don't play a role. The patent belongs to the entity that owns it.

Industry committee  We provide the entire timeframe, because you are going to hear about how much time it takes; that it's very long. Well, it is long because we have that five-year period in Canada, which is something that does not exist in many other countries.

Industry committee  In fact, I can tell you today. If we take out the average time for someone to request that we examine, we are at about 48 months.

Industry committee  I can do it now. It is apples and oranges, because the laws are very different. In the United States, for example, it's 39 months compared with our 48. But they have different tests of law from ours. That's why you have to take the comparisons with a grain of salt. We are sligh

Industry committee  You touched on a number of points. I will try to answer, and then we'll see—

Industry committee  When you apply, you have 18 months during which we do not disclose your invention. I think you said we would disclose.

Industry committee  When you file with us, for 18 months, although you disclose to us, we will not make it public. You're protected from that perspective, but at the 18-month point, we do make it public.

Industry committee  Right. The clock starts when they apply.

Industry committee  About 30% of applications will request examination and application. Then you have five years. You know, if you look at a histogram over the five years, about 30% apply right off the bat, then another 25% apply at the five-year point. Those are the people who want to take their ti

Industry committee  As soon as they apply.