The USMCA: Good News For Intellectual Property Rights Holders

Canada's current intellectual property laws, including the imminent amendments to the Trademarks Act and Industrial Designs Act, are largely compliant with the obligations imposed by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The USMCA replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).¹ However, once the USMCA is ratified, Canadian laws will likely need to undergo some change with respect to intellectual property. These key changes are outlined below.

What You Need To Know

• New biologic drugs will now be entitled to a 10-year term of data protection instead of eight. The USMCA did not address the date of implementation of that 10-year term and whether it would apply to biologic drugs already on the market.