The meeting on 30 October, 2012 involved the following witnesses: Wayne J. Edwards, Chair and Vice-President (Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network); Vladimir Gagachev, Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Electrical Sector (Eaton Yale Company); Terry Hunter, Manager, Anti-Counterfeiting and Intellectual Property Enforcement (Canadian Standards Association); and John McDougall, President (National Research Council Canada). Mr. Edwards, Mr. Gagachev and Mr. Hunter emphasized the urgent need to fight the rising counterfeiting crimes in Canada. Among the major recommendations they mentioned included adopting a system where IP rights holders may record their rights with the Canadian Border Services (CBS) so that counterfeited products may be identified, empowering the CBS with an authority which enable them to target, detain, seize and destroy counterfeit goods and educating the young. Mr. McDougall reiterated on the role of the NRC, which has become less scientist-driven with more industrial financial involvement. As such, the NRC foresees more industrial type publication in the future. Mr. McDougall was also requested to provide some form of document which further elaborates the new direction for the NRC.

On November 1^st, the committee heard testimony from the following witnesses: Rami Abielmona, Vice-President, Research and Engineering, Larus Technologies Corporation; Gordon A. Davies, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Open Text Corporation; Karna Gupta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Information Technology Association of Canada; and Martin Lavoie, Director of Policy, Manufacturing Competitiveness and Innovation, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. The Minutes can be found here.

The post Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU) appeared first on Elizabeth May.

On 25 October, the witnesses included representatives from two organizations and two individuals:  Victoria Lennox, Chief Executive Officer, and Dave Waters, Advisor, both for Startup Canada; Kevin Spreekmeester (KS), Vice-President Global Marketing for Canada Goose Inc ; Douglas Barber, Distinguished Professor-in-Residence, McMaster University; and Daniel S.Drapeau, Litigor, Advisor & Trade-Mark Agent, DrapeauLex Inc. As the meeting was delayed by forty five minutes, the witnesses rushed through their presentations while highlighting issues regarding counterfeit products and the weak performance of Canadian businesses in commercializing value-added products. Lennox, Waters and Barber agreed that this is largely due to poor communication contacts between entrepreneurs and the authorities involved such as the government and universities. Mr. Barber commented on how the “cultural commercialization” of Canadians is much more conservative compared to the American markets where there exists a “synergy” of communications between the entrepreneurs, students, government and universities thereby enabling strong support within the intellectual property regime of the U.S.A. Daniel Drapeau emphasized the need to improve the current trademark regulations in Canada to combat counterfeiting. These include the addition of criminal disposition, trademark registrations and statutory damages. Questions and answers between the witnesses and the committee members were short. At 11.45am, the committee voted to quickly end the meeting for the public.

The post Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU) appeared first on Elizabeth May.

On 18 October, the committee resumed its study on the Intellectual Property Regime in Canada.  Two witnesses were present: Diane Lank, General Counsel, Desire, Learn Incorporated, and Jason Kee, Director, Entertainment Software Association of Canada. The major issues discussed were the costs of filing patents in Canada and the piracy of electronic games. Diane Lank recounted the lawsuit which affected her organization in 2006 and subsequently reduced the annual growth for her organization. She also discussed how much more expensive filing patents in Canada is compared to the U.S. She emphasized the urgent need to have efficient communications (e.g via education) with trading partners such as the U.S and Europe so that the Canadian e-learning markets can be as competitive and better equip to penetrate into emerging remote markets such as Brazil, China and Colombia. Jason Kee stressed the importance of having a more formal law enforcement system within the Canadian market to combat the rising threats from piracy & counterfeiting within the electronic games industry. He mentioned a form of IP coordinator (as in the U.S) who would assist in prioritizing problems such as piracy. Among other issues discussed between the committee members and witnesses included lawsuit fees, improving innovation in the industry, government incentives (e.g grants & tax credits), piracy & trademarks challenges, systems of patent processing and patent filing disclosure.

The post Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU) appeared first on Elizabeth May.