On November 10, 2016, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) released its first intellectual property (IP) Canada report (the Report), detailing various trends in IP filing activities in Canada and abroad.
The Report is based on 2014 and 2015 data and considers three types of IP rights administered by CIPO: patents, trademarks and industrial designs. Statistics about IP rights based on copyright, integrated circuit topographies and plant breeders’ rights are not considered in the Report.
IP Filings in Canada. Overall, 2015 IP filings in Canada increased as compared to 2014. Total patent applications filed at CIPO grew by 4% as compared to 2014, though this represents a 12% decline in filings since 2006. Trademark applications saw an approximate 3% growth in filings as compared to 2014, which contributes to an overall about 16% growth since 2006. The number of industrial design applications filings grew by 1% as compared to 2014, which represents a 21% growth since 2006.
The top four countries of origin of applicants for applications received by CIPO for all categories (patents, trademarks and industrial designs) in 2015 were: the United States; Canada; Germany; and the United Kingdom.
IP Filings by Canadians. From 2005 to 2014, applications for IP rights filed abroad increased by 35%. However, foreign application filings saw approximately a 2% decrease in 2014 as compared to 2013. The top three filing destinations for patents in 2014 were the United States, the European Patent Office and China.
Annual filings for foreign patent applications by Canadians declined 6% in 2014 as compared to 2013. Foreign trademark applications filed by Canadians increased by 2% in 2014 as compared to 2013. Applications for foreign industrial designs by Canadians declined 3% in 2014 as compared to 2013.
Summary By: Michael House
E-TIPS® ISSUE
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