The purpose of this article is to point out some of the intellectual property issues exporters need to consider. Intellectual property takes many forms, some of which exporters may or may not have experience or familiarity with. Statutory protection measures in Canada include patents, trademarks, copyright and industrial designs, for example. Other proprietary information may be held as trade secrets or protected as confidential business information. It is essential for businesses seeking to export knowledge or technology to be cognizant of international protection issues in advance of exporting, since an attempt to maintain or secure protection after the fact may be too late.
Several issues exist with respect to patents.
For example, patents only protect the patentee in the jurisdiction for which they are issued. Therefore, while an issuer may have patent protection in place or pending in Canada, a Canadian patent will not protect the exporter in the United States or elsewhere. Patents would be required in those other jurisdictions, if it was desired to exercise the same statutory monopoly outside of Canada. The necessity for these patents to be in place in other jurisdictions is further complicated by the possibility that it may be too late to apply for patent protection outside of Canada, depending on the timeline for the particular project and what has happened to date. Patentability requirements also vary to some extent between countries, and some countries have different types of patent protection available within their individual country.