Canada joined WIPO in 1970 and is the contractor of the main international IP treaties including Paris Convention, Berne Convention, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), Budapest Treaty, and Rome Convention. Canada has also made progress in international IP, especially copyright cooperation in recent years-it joined WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty and WIPO Copyright Treaty in August 2014.　　The main IP administrative agents are Industry Canada and its associating Special Operating Agency (SOA), the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). CIPO’s areas of activity include patents, trademark, copyright, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies. Moreover, CIPO launched its Business Strategy 2012-2017 to increase its leadership and expertise in intellectual property support and to enhance innovation.　　In addition, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) mainly regulates plant breeders’ rights which apply to certain new plant varieties.　　

Patent

　　In Canada, only invention with novelty, utility, and ingenuity is patentable. Both national and international applications are available and the CIPO official website provides convenient PCT E-Filing to the public.　　The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) makes fasttrack examination of patent application possible, provided that the applicant has a corresponding application with one of Canada’s PPH partners. If meeting the requirements, the applicant can receive its first examination action faster and at no additional charge to regular fees. Canadian patent applications will be examined in accordance with the Canadian Patent Act and Patent Rules and CIPO's Patent Office Practice. Moreover, to make the PPH process more accessible and simplified, CIPO and 18 other intellectual property offices, for example, IP Australia and Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) have partnered in a Global PPH pilot beginning on January 6, 2014. Under the Global PPH, applicants could choose to make a request of any or all of the participating offices. By submitting a letter to CIPO requesting accelerated examination under the PPH or Global PPH, and including a completed PPH request form together with the relevant supporting documents, applicants could easily submit a PPH.　　

Trademark

　　Trademarks are unique identifiers (such as a word, logo, slogan, symbol or shape) that distinguish the goods or services of one company from those of another. Businesses use trademarks as marketing tools to help consumers recognize the quality and source of their products. Trademark protection is a company's primary legal means of protecting its brand.　　The amendments to the Trade-Marks Act in 2014 allow Canada to accede to three trademark treaties: Madrid Protocol, Singapore Treaty and Nice Agreement. Therefore, the administrative requirements could be simplified, procedures with its major trading partners could be harmonized, and thus the costs for applicants could be reduced, both in terms of time and money.　　The three international treaties changed Canada’s trademark legislation. For instance, when applicants specify the goods or services in the trademark application, they must also be grouped according to the classification system established by the Nice Agreement. Under the Madrid system, Canadian trademark owners could expand their protection to all the 92 member countries.　　Moreover, combating counterfeit products has been taken quite seriously in Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) supports the fight against counterfeit and pirated goods entering or leaving Canada. And CBSA has established a process that allows intellectual property rightholders to file a request asking for the CBSA to temporarily detain suspected counterfeit goods encountered at the border while right-holders seek legal redress.　　

Copyright

　　“Copyright” means “the right to copy” and it refers to the sole right to produce or reproduce a work or a substantial part of it in any form. Copyright applies to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. It can also apply to subject-matter other than works, consisting of performer’s performances, sound recordings and communication signals.　　Generally, copyright lasts for the life of the author and 50 years after his or her death, which, to be more specific, means that the protection will expire on December 31 of the 50th year after the author dies.

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