Volume 2, Issue 1, 1996/1997
Table of Contents
Special News Feature
Introducing:
| CIPO: |
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office |
It happens to us all once in a while: we see something in a store and say to
ourselves, "What a good idea! Why didn't I think of that?"
Ideas don't just come out of nowhere. Some people we call them
"innovators" even make ideas their life's work, either inventing or
innovating. They come in all kinds, from the amateur doing experiments down in the
basement on the weekend to the professional working for a big corporation improving
products that are already on the market.
But it is a long way from experimenting in the basement to marketing a good,
sometimes very simple, idea. No matter how good the idea, success on the market does not
automatically follow. Sometimes, though, it's a big hit and the money will start flowing
in. You just have to know how to go about it.
Intellectual property (IP) is the term that refers to all the rights connected
with such an "idea," an invention, a creation. Intellectual property includes
patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies:
 | Patents are for inventions ingenious, useable now processes or products.
Well-known examples include the telephone, the snowblower and the zipper.
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| trademarks are words, symbols or pictures or a combination of any of these
that make it possible to tell the difference between the goods or services offered by one
person and those offered by another. Often, trademarks represent not only the goods or
services but also the reputation of the company behind them, as in the case of Coca-Cola,
McDonald's golden arches or Windows95.
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| Copyright applies to literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works. All the
books you read, all the songs you listen to and all the movies you watch are protected by
copyright.
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| Industrial designs relate to the shape, pattern or decoration of a mass-produced
utilitarian article. This category includes the shape of a Coca-Cola bottle, in-line
skates and Oakley sunglasses.
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| Integrated circuit topography comprises designs for or actual three-dimensional
configurations of electronic circuitry such as integrated circuit chips. |
All these forms of IP are synonyms for innovation, and innovation is serious
business. Business people, artists, inventors, manufacturers and others all have an
interest in IP. Anyone who has ever thought up, designed, manufactured or marketed a
product or service needs to understand what intellectual property is, know how to protect
the fruits of a long, hard process and why it is important to respect the IP rights of
others.
All the creativity encompassed within the sphere of IP can thus be protected
under the law much the same way you obtain legal title for a building lot. As well, the
registers and records used in protecting the rights of IP holders contain a wealth of
interesting information of potential strategic value. And, almost all of this information
is available to the public.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is the agency that looks after
the registers and records involved in protecting the five types of IP described above. A
separate Act governs each type of IP.
In addition to administering the research systems and the application and
registration processes for all forms of IP, CIPO has regional advisors in Halifax,
Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. These experts provide advice on IP and make presentations
to firms, schools, post-secondary institutions, and at conferences and trade fairs in
their areas.
For further information on CIPO, call (819) 997-1936, fax: (819) 953-7620 or
visit the website at http://info.ic.gc.ca/opengov/cipo. |
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