Canada Proposes Anti-Counterfeiting Legislation

After many years of calls for reform by intellectual property rights owners, the Canadian government introduced legislation on March 1, 2013 aimed at fighting counterfeiting. Bill C-56, known as the Combating Counterfeit Products Act (CCPA), would amend both the Copyright Act and Trade-marks Act, and make consequential amendments to other acts, all with a view to strengthening the ability of rights owners to fight counterfeiters acting on a commercial scale.

Responding to a Call to Action

Several of Canada's top trading partners, including the U.S. and the European Union, have long been critical of Canada's efforts to adequately address the counterfeit goods trade. Most notably, in April 2009, the current state of Canadian law led the U.S. government to place Canada on a Priority Watch List of countries that fail to uphold effective intellectual property protection and enforcement.