The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO; French: ''Office de la propriété intellectuelle du Canada, OPIC'') is responsible for the administration and processing of the greater part of intellectual property (IP) in Canada. CIPO's areas of activity include

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

s and integrated circuit topographies. Structurally, CIPO functions as a special operating agency (SOA) under

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; ; )''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Industry (). is a Ministry (government ...

. CIPO is based in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, part of the National Capital Region. CIPO’s Chief Executive Officer is Konstantinos Georgaras. CIPO plays an integral role in the Canadian innovation ecosystem and cooperates with its counterpart organizations around the world through international IP treaties. Continued collaboration with international partners and domestic stakeholders strengths the Canadian IP regime and provides CIPO’s clients with opportunities to extract greater value from their creations and inventions. In 2019, Canada ratified and fully implemented the Hague Agreement for industrial designs; the

Madrid Protocol The Madrid System, also known as the Madrid Protocol, is the primary international system for facilitating the registration of trademarks in multiple jurisdictions around the world. It was established pursuant to the multilateral treaties ''Mad ...

, the Singapore Treaty and the Nice Agreement for trademarks; and the Patent Law Treaty for patents. Prior to 2019, Canada had joined the

TRIPS Agreement The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by nat ...

and the Paris Convention for intellectual property; the

WIPO Convention The WIPO Convention (formally, the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization) is a multilateral treaty that established the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). History The convention was signed at Stockhol ...

for trademarks and copyright; the Berne Convention, the Rome Convention and the Marrakesh VIP Treaty for copyright; and the

Budapest Treaty The Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, or Budapest Treaty, is an international treaty signed in Budapest, Hungary, on April 28, 1977. It entered into force on A ...

, the

Patent Cooperation Treaty The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international patent law treaty, concluded in 1970. It provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each of its contracting states. A patent application filed und ...

, the Strasbourg Agreement and the UPOV Convention for patents. In 2020, CIPO received approximately 160,000 applications to register more than 37,000 patents, 76,000 trademarks, 12,500 copyrights and 8,000 industrial designs.

Mandate

CIPO is responsible for processing applications to register patents, trademarks, copyrights and industrial designs. CIPO's mandate is to provide this service and, more generally, to provide education on intellectual property to Canadians. By modernizing the national IP system and collaborating with its international counterparts, CIPO helps innovators and entrepreneurs grow their business in global markets and attract foreign investments to Canada.

Trademarks

A trademark can protect a combination of words, sounds or designs used to distinguish your goods or services from those of others in the marketplace. CIPO administers the ''Trademarks Act'', ''Trademarks Regulations'', the ''Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act'' and the ''Olympic and Paralympic Marks Regulations''. In particular, the Trademarks and Industrial Design Branch is responsible for processing filings, conducting examinations and approving or refusing applications. If a trademark application is refused, there is a right of appeal to the

Federal Court of Canada The Federal Court of Canada, which succeeded the Exchequer Court of Canada in 1971, was a national court of Canada that had limited jurisdiction to hear certain types of disputes arising under the Parliament of Canada, federal government's Canadi ...

. If a trademark application is approved, the Trademarks and Industrial Design Branch is also responsible for advertising it in the
Trademarks Journal
' and, ultimately, processing the registration and renewal of the trademark. However, if an opposition is filed during the advertisement stage, the application is referred to th

(another body within CIPO) for

adjudication Adjudication is the legal process by which an arbiter or judge reviews evidence and argumentation, including legal reasoning set forth by opposing parties or litigants, to come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between th ...

Patents

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, such as a product or a process. CIPO administers the ''Patent Act'' and ''Patent Rules''. More specifically, the Patent Branch is responsible for processing filings, conducting examinations and approving or refusing applications. If a patent application is refused, there is a right of appeal to the Commissioner of Patents. This review is conducted by an administrative body within CIPO, th
Patent Appeal Board

Copyright

Copyright provides protection for literary, artistic, dramatic and musical creations. CIPO administers the ''Copyright Act'' and ''Copyright Regulations''. CIPO is responsible for processing copyright applications, assignments and licences.

Industrial designs

Industrial design registration provides protection for the original visual features of a product. CIPO administers the ''Industrial Design Act'' and the ''Industrial Design Regulations''. CIPO is responsible for processing filings, conducting examinations and approving or refusing applications. If an industrial design application is considered for refusal, the decision can be reviewed by th

If the application is ultimately refused, the decision can be appealed to the

Integrated circuit topographies

Integrated circuit topographies refers to the three-dimensional configurations of electronic circuits embodied in integrated circuit products or layout designs. CIPO administers the ''Integrated Circuit Topography Act'' and the ''Integrated Circuit Topography Regulations''. CIPO is responsible for processing integrated circuit topography applications, assignments and licences.

References

External links

CIPO official website

Trademarks

''Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act''

Canadian Trademarks Database

Patents

''Patent Act''

Copyright

Canadian Copyrights Database

Industrial designs

Canadian Industrial Designs Database

Integrated circuit topographies

{{authority control Canadian patent law Canadian trademark law Canadian copyright law Canadian intellectual property law Government agencies established in 1991 Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Patent offices Copyright agencies International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities 1991 establishments in Canada Intellectual_Property_Office, Canadian