Revised Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines Clarify The Competition Bureau's Approach In IP Matters

The Competition Bureau (Bureau) released revised Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines (2016 IPEGs) on March 31, 2016, after engaging in a lengthy consultation period based on a draft released in June 2015 (2015 Draft). In releasing the 2016 IPEGs, the Bureau stated that it is "making it a priority to provide increased clarity on how it deals with competition issues involving intellectual property. To support innovation and ensure that guidance keeps pace with developments, it has committed to review the IPEGs annually and will revise them as needed in light of experience, changing circumstances and decisions of the Competition Tribunal and the courts." As evidence of the importance and broad implications of these issues, the Bureau received a significant volume of comments from various domestic and international stakeholders, including the Canadian Bar Association, the American Bar Association, U.S. Federal Trade Commissioners, economists, Google, Microsoft,