How intellectual property is protected in Canada

Updated: December 15, 2025

Whether you're a business owner with trade secrets or a creator with new inventions, learning how intellectual property rights are protected in Canada is a must. Protection is not only about suing infringers but also about being proactive with your original work.

To protect your edge over competitors, this article on intellectual property (IP) will discuss the process of protecting the innovations you worked so hard on. Aside from using this article as a head start, consulting with a legal expert on intellectual property laws is always a good idea.

How is intellectual property protected in Canada?

Protection of intellectual property rights (IP rights) in Canada includes the following:

• Learning about Canada's legal framework governing IPs, including enforcement methods
• Registering the IP with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and using contractual protections
• Enforcing IP rights whenever necessary, such as when IP infringement occurs or when IP rights are violated

Kevin Sartorio, a senior intellectual property specialist and partner at Gowling WLG, provided insights into how IP is protected in Canada. "Canada protects IP by recognizing the existence of IP rights and allowing rights-holders to enforce those rights against unauthorized users by way of legal proceedings in the Canadian courts."

He adds that "Canada's recognition of IP rights is influenced by our need to adhere to various conventions and treaties for the protection of IP that Canada is a signatory of."

In another aspect of protecting IPs, here's Sartorio explaining the intersection of copyrights, trademarks, and industrial designs:

Reach out to the best intellectual property lawyers in Canada as ranked by Lexpert for more details about the laws governing intellectual property rights.

What are the important laws on intellectual property rights?

Sartorio defines the four basic protections of IP as follows:

• patent: to protect a new, useful, and non-obvious invention
• trademark: to protect a symbol of trade source
• copyright: to protect an original literary, artistic, musical, or dramatic work
• industrial design: to protect an artistic design applied to a useful article

Other federal laws also recognize additional forms of IPs:

• integrated circuit topographies (ICTs): 3D configurations of electronic circuits, found in integrated circuit products or layout designs
• plant breeders' rights (PBR): for protecting new and distinct varieties of plants, which is similar to how patents work

Intellectual property rights in Canada are protected both by federal statutes and common law. Each type of IP is then governed by a specific federal law, except for trade secrets, which are protected under common law and contract law.

Key federal statutes include:

• Copyright Act
• Industrial Design Act
• Patent Act
• Trademarks Act
• Laws protecting trade secrets

These statutes, together with common law principles and the Civil Code of Québec, form Canada's IP protection framework.

We'll discuss these laws below.

Copyright Act

Copyright attaches automatically when an author creates a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work. As a best practice, the work can be registered with CIPO under the Copyright Act.

Registered or not, a copyright grants the holder (including its assignee or licensee) the exclusive right to produce or reproduce the work. Copyright period lasts for the lifetime of the author or artist, and 70 years after their death.

#DYK? From 2017 to 2019, 18.2% of #businesses in Canada owned intellectual property (IP), with 31.1% reporting that #IP had increased their revenue. Check out our infographic for more: https://t.co/G4yS8xaxN6 pic.twitter.com/x69Mmhe1P3

— Statistics Canada (@StatCan_eng) February 18, 2021

Industrial Design Act (IDA)

Under the IDA, the registration of an industrial design with the CIPO grants the holder or proprietor the exclusive rights over the design. This prevents others from making, using, selling, or importing a product that bears the registered industrial design.

Industrial designs operate under a 'first-to-file' system: the first applicant to file for an eligible design secures the rights, and later applications for the same design are refused.

Other details regarding the registered industrial design are:

• period of exclusive right: 10 years after registration and up to 15 years from filing
• maintenance fees: must be paid not later than five years after the date of registration
• transfer of ownership: may be transferred to another, in whole or in part

Patent Act

An applicant who is granted a patent by CIPO receives exclusive rights to make, use, and sell the invention in Canada. The rights include making, using, or selling the patented invention, but only within Canada.

The same rights apply to the legal representatives of the owner or creator. These can also be transferred to another person or entity at any time, through an application with the CIPO.

Upon registration, these IP rights granted to a patent holder last up to 20 years from the filing of the application. However, patent holders must pay a maintenance fee every year, starting from the second year after the patent was filed.

If the maintenance fees are not paid, the patent expires or is deemed abandoned. When this happens, the holder of an expired patent will have to apply at the CIPO for its:

• reversal: in case of expiry and must be done not later than 12 months after the end of the sixth month after the original due date of the maintenance fee
• reinstatement: in case of abandonment, not later than 12 months after it was abandoned

Trademarks Act

Registration under the Trademarks Act grants the owner the exclusive right to use the trademark across Canada. Trade names may acquire rights at common law through use but are distinct from registered trademarks.

However, intellectual property rights over a trademark or trade name are partly different from patents and industrial designs. This is because the use of an unregistered trademark for a length of time will grant the owner certain rights under Canada's common law.

In any case, the Trademarks Act provides certain rights and responsibilities to an owner upon registration of the trademark, including:

• period of exclusive right: 10 years throughout Canada, starting from the registration date
• renewal: fees paid every 10 years after registration; otherwise, the registered trademark will be removed from Registrar of Trademarks' records
• use of trademark: a registered trademark must be used in Canada; it may be expunged for non‑use after three years if challenged
• transfer of ownership: any transfer of trademark ownership must be registered with the Registrar

Laws protecting trade secrets

There is no federal law in Canada governing trade secrets and confidential information, unlike the other types of IP. The enforcement of IP rights over trade secrets falls under common law, the Criminal Code, and Québec's Civil Code.

Owners may also do some precautions to protect their trade secrets and other confidential information, including:

• using non‑disclosure agreements (NDAs) and confidentiality clauses in employment and contractor agreements
• security measures, such as encrypting of business data, setting up password protections, or locking up trade secrets in a safe

What are the ways to protect intellectual property rights?

There are two main ways to protect IP rights in Canada:

• registering with the CIPO
• enforcing these rights when they're violated

Sartorio shares some steps on how businesses can protect intellectual property rights:

• Trademarks: Proposed names for the business should be searched to see if they can be freely used, at which point federal trademark registrations can be sought. Trademark licensing must be done with care to avoid the marks becoming invalid
• Copyrights: When a business generates artistic, musical, dramatic or literary works (including software), a chain of title to copyright must be secured and evidenced
• Trade secrets: When a business has confidential information or trade secrets, non-disclosure agreements need to be drafted

We'll discuss these measures below:

Registration of intellectual property rights

As stated in different federal IP laws, an owner's IP rights can be enforced if the creation or invention has been registered. This will vary for every type of intellectual property, as elaborated by Sartorio:

• patents and industrial designs: IP rights will only be recognized if the intellectual property is the subject of a formal registration
• copyrights: registration is not essential but beneficial
• trademarks: registration will allow for a broader range of enforcement options
• confidential information or trade secrets: there is no mechanism for registration

Registration of IP, whether it is for patents, trademarks, copyrights, and industrial designs, is done through the CIPO.

Enforcing IP rights against infringement

Infringement is the unauthorized use of protected IP. Definitions and remedies are set out in the applicable statutes and common law.

There are common legal remedies that an IP holder may pursue against infringement, as provided in each federal Canadian IP law mentioned above. These are:

• alternative dispute resolution: such as negotiation, mediation, and arbitration
• litigation: filing a case for IP infringement before the appropriate court

An example is the Patent Act, which defines infringement of patents as the making, constructing, using, or selling the patented invention without the patentee's consent. Common law clarifies this definition by adding how it can be indirectly committed, such as through inducement.

This video from the CIPO discusses the different ways to enforce your IP rights abroad:

Learn more about IP rights protection internationally by consulting the Lexpert-ranked best intellectual property law firms in Canada.

Filing legal actions against unauthorized users

When owners of registered IPs find out that their IP rights have been violated, the law outlines legal actions they can take. Sartorio says that they can start legal proceedings to enforce IP rights against unauthorized users.

According to him, these proceedings "can generally be brought either in the Federal Court of Canada or the various provincial superior courts of justice, although a breach of confidence will generally be enforced only through the provincial courts."

Sartorio adds that while IP is protected by federal statutes, the "misuse of confidential information or trade secrets generally falls within the jurisdiction of the provinces." This means that there are other related laws, both at the federal and provincial levels, that also protect IP in Canada.

As an example, he highlighted that "the use of a confusing trademark or trade name can be the subject not only of various actions under the federal Trademarks Act, but can also be the subject of an action for 'passing-off' as recognized by the various provinces."

Prosecuting a criminal case for IP infringement

The Criminal Code also plays an important role in protecting IP rights. "It is also possible in theory for certain infringements of IP to be considered to rise to a level of criminal responsibility," Sartorio says.

Here are relevant provisions of the Criminal Code on IP infringement:

• trade secrets: section 391 defines what a trade secret is and how an offense of trade secret infringement is committed
• forgery of trademarks: sections 406 to 414 define the crime of forgery of trademarks and trade descriptions and the 'passing off' of trademarked products and services

Common law on protecting intellectual property rights

Sartorio says that care must be taken in licensing a trademark to ensure that the mark does not unintentionally become invalid. He gave the recent case of Milano Pizza Ltd. v. 6034799 Canada Inc., 2022 FC 425, which "shows an example of this unfortunate outcome."

"The Federal Court of Canada dismissed the plaintiff's trademark infringement claim and ordered expungement of its long-standing registration for Milano Pizzeria because the Court found that the plaintiff had failed to exercise sufficient control over its licensee's use of the trademark as required by section 50(1) of the Canadian Trademarks Act. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld this decision, underscoring the importance of proper licensing of one's trademark rights."

How can lawyers help in protecting intellectual property rights in Canada?

Intellectual property lawyers can help in different areas related to protecting these IP rights, including:

• assisting clients with registering their inventions with the CIPO
• helping clients enforce their IP rights against infringers

"Practicing in the field of intellectual property allows a lawyer to be exposed to a diverse range of interesting issues and technologies on a regular basis," Sartorio says. He also shared some cases that he has handled recently, including disputes involving:

• patents pertaining to geolocation technologies for mobile devices
• copyrights claimed to cover popular online programming and broadcasts in Canada
• confidential information asserted over retail display technologies
• trademark disputes involving leading manufacturers and retailers

When clients face similar issues or regularly deal with IP in their business, it's high time to hire an IP lawyer to guide them.

Resolving IP disputes

More importantly, lawyers can help businesses resolve their IP disputes against other parties. Sartorio gave some methods on resolving these disputes:

• First, disputes can be resolved at a business level by negotiation. If negotiations do not work, parties sometimes decide to have the dispute mediated and/or arbitrated out of Court
• Finally, IP disputes are frequently litigated before the various courts in Canada, in particular large disputes between sophisticated parties

In mediations and arbitrations, "[b]oth processes attempt to have a neutral third party help the parties, either to reach a compromise themselves (mediation) or to make a binding decision for them (arbitration) without all the formalities and costs associated with litigation in court," he adds.

Intellectual property rights: Protecting your creations legally

With every right, there is an equivalent obligation. The same is true for IP rights, where the owner bears certain responsibilities, and others are expected to respect these rights.

As such, when IP rights are violated, the law provides remedies for the owner and imposes penalties against the violator. If you want to start protecting your intellectual property rights, it's important to reach out to an IP lawyer who can help you through the process.

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