The government has released its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy: “Trust makes adoption possible. Opportunity and sovereignty ensure adoption creates benefits for Canadians now and in the future.” Six pillars are described as “protect Canadians from the risks and harms of AI”, “strengthen multinational partnerships with trusted allies”, “power shared prosperity through Canadian institutions and companies”, “empower Canadians to participate in and benefit from AI”, “support globally competitive Canadian champions”, “build sovereign Canadian AI foundations in compute, data, talent, and infrastructure”. However, there are no mentions of copyright, or other intellectual property, amendments.
All posts by Alan Macek
Geographic Indicators
The government announced a public engagement on “how to strengthen and modernize Canada’s geographical indications regime under the Trademarks Act.” A focus is on Indigenous engagement and potential additional categories, such as traditional crafts and industrial products. The engagement extends from May 28 to August 27, 2026 Continue reading Geographic Indicators
Judges’ Dinner
The annual Federal Court Judges’ Dinner is always a highlight of the IP litigation calendar. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with friends and colleagues in Ottawa. Let me know if you will be attending as well.
Patentable Subject Matter
CIPO has issued its preliminary determination on the Dusome remand following the Federal Court’s decision in Dusome v. Canada (Attorney General), 2025 FC 1809. My colleague Richard Mar has the following summary and context.
Appointments
Giuseppina D’Agostino, Associate Vice President Research and Full Professor of Law at York University – Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. Appointments were also made today to the Ontario courts.
Appointments
François Joyal, Senior General Counsel at the Department of Justice Canada in Montréal, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. Appointments were also made today in Alberta and Ontario. Continue reading Appointments
Patentable Subject Matter
CIPO has published a practice notice with new guidance on purposive construction and subject-matter for examining patents directed to computer-implemented inventions, medical diagnostic methods and medical use claims. Continue reading Patentable Subject Matter
IP Consultation
The government has opened a public consultation on 1) client-agent privilege; 2) unauthorized practice before CIPO; 3) clarity of patent ownership information; and 4) requirements of patent demand letters. The consultation is open until April 24th.
SCC: Facebook v. Privacy Commissioner
The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing oral arguments on March 19th in Facebook Inc. v. Privacy Commissioner of Canada on privacy consent and personal information safeguards (appeal from 2024 FCA 140). The hearing will be webcast.
2025 In Review – Trademarks
Looking back at last year, some trademark data that I’ve collected that may be of interest:
- Total trademark applications in 2025:
- filed: about 72,000 (up about 9% from 2024)
- granted: about 90,000 (up about 45% from 2024)
- about 74% national filings vs 26% Madrid filings
- Average time from filing to grant for newly granted registrations: about 3 years (about 2.7 years for Madrid filings)
- See list of trademark agents by volume of applications filed in 2025 with change to the placement of the top two firms
- TMOB Decisions: 275 (up from 225 in 2024)
- Federal Court trademark proceedings: about 125 (down from 135 in 2024)
- About 55 reported trademark court decisions with the most visited being Centric Brands, 2025 FCA 161 on s45 non-use, subject to the only pending trademark leave application to the SCC