Choosing between Canada and the United States: Patent Law and Litigation

Published in Innovation and Invention Focus 2004, October 2004.

Business in the 21st century has gone global. Multinational companies must plan for, obtain and enforce large IP portfolios in every commercially significant jurisdiction. Owners of IP around the world have become aware of the importance, on the one hand, and the cost and annoyance, on the other, of having to enforce patent rights in many jurisdictions. Of course, in the era of globalization of both trade and information, it is not only IP owners who operate across borders. Sophisticated IP infringers can and often do operate in a variety of jurisdictions. Though their first target market is often the US, it is not long before they conclude that once established, it is easy and convenient to continue their infringing activities in Canada.