You may have heard that it’s not worthwhile to patent your company’s technology in Canada, with its smaller market, its conservative judicial remedies and its skepticism toward software-based patents.
Here are 10 reasons why this narrative is wrong.
- Infringers have easy options
In 2011, the U.S. expanded its “inter partes review” system for challenging patents. Having an inexpensive, one-sided administrative procedure available to threaten an adverse patent would be expected to dramatically improve the negotiating position of a potential infringer, and the statistics bear out this hypothesis: There has been a tenfold increase in IPR filings since the 2011 overhaul, with the majority of cases ending in settlement. No such asymmetric inter partes proceedings are available to potential infringers in Canada. The only reliable forum for infringers to undermine Canadian patents is the Federal Court, where they risk monetary judgments and injunctions against infringement.
To read Matthew Norwood‘s entire article, please visit the Canadian Lawyer Magazine InHouse website.