Science and Research committee  In terms of trademarks, our inventory is 150,000. Our annual applications are 82,000 new ones every year.

Science and Research committee  In the patent process, as I indicated earlier, there are multiple steps. There's an application first step, but then the applicant has up to four years to decide when they wish to move forward. This is called the request for examination period. We leave it to the applicant to decide when is appropriate.

Science and Research committee  This builds on the comment from Professor D'Agostino, who is spearheading some great work in the area of AI in society. With regard to our operations, we are exploring different tools that would help in terms of searching, comparing different backgrounds for technology, helping classify activities and to conduct formalities.

Science and Research committee  Thank you very much for the question. As I mentioned, 70% of our applications come from abroad and most Canadians will file outside of Canada. For one example in terms of volumes, last year 12,000 Canadians filed in the U.S. for patents. In reverse, 16,000 Americans filed in Canada.

Science and Research committee  Thank you for the follow-up question. Getting a patent and applying for it can be a rather complex process. There are a number of steps in play. We ensure that we are internationally comparable so that when someone applies in Canada, they can expect similar turnaround times with other jurisdictions.

Science and Research committee  Thank you very much for the question. As my colleague mentioned, there was a very significant change during the pandemic, which also had the effect of helping SMEs. There was a very significant shift as more and more companies were operating on virtual platforms. It almost democratized, if you will, some of these platforms.

Science and Research committee  Thank you very much for the question. A number of factors have converged over the last few years that I'd like to speak to. There has been a continual growth in demand for trademarks. Last year, we received over 82,000 applications at CIPO. This represents a 71% increase in demand over the last decade.

Science and Research committee  Thank you for the question. In terms of our response, the demand has been growing, as I mentioned. In particular, there was a surge in demand during the pandemic. Two years ago, we launched a full recovery plan in terms of our trademarks, which looked at building capacity, changing some of our processes and using technology.

Science and Research committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the introduction. My name is Konstantinos Georgaras. I'm the CEO of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. I would like to note that I am honoured to be speaking from the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. I'm pleased to discuss how the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, or CIPO, supports innovation and IP commercialization.