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Patents apply to newly developed technology as well as to improvements on products or processes. They provide a time-limited, legally protected, exclusive right to make, use and sell an invention. In this way, they serve as a reward for ingenuity.

To be patented, an idea must be novel, non-obvious and useful.

Patents have a lifetime of 20 years. During this time, the intellectual property belongs solely to the assignee. The patent enables its owner to prevent others from making, using, selling or importing the technology or product.

Danger of public disclosure

If you don’t file a patent application for an invention before disclosing it to the public, you won’t be able to patent it in any country other than Canada or the United States. In Canada and the United States, you have a one-year grace period after your public disclosure to apply for patent protection.  After this time, your invention is un-patentable.

If you produce an original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, you’ll want to use copyright. Copyright is the exclusive legal right to produce, reproduce, publish or perform an original literary, artistic, dramatic or musical work. The creator is usually the copyright owner. However, an employer — for example, a film studio — may have copyright for works created by employees unless there’s an agreement in place stating otherwise.

When you own the copyright for a work, you control how it’s used, to protect its value. Others who want to use it have to pay or otherwise get your permission.

Generally, an original work is automatically protected by copyright the moment you create it. By registering your copyright, you receive a certificate issued by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office that can be used in court as evidence that you own the copyright. Your copyright exists in Canada during your lifetime and for 50 years following your death. After that, the work is in the public domain, and anyone can use it. This is true for most works, with exceptions

A trademark is a combination of letters, words, sounds or designs that distinguishes one company’s goods or services from another’s.

A trademark is unique. Over time, it comes to stand not only for the actual goods and services you sell, but also for your company’s reputation and brand.

By registering your trademark, you protect it under law from misuse by others, and you gain exclusive rights to use it throughout Canada for 10 years (a term you can renew).

If you’re producing distinctive-looking new products, you'll want to learn about industrial designs and find out about registering your designs.

Industrial designs are the features of a product that appeal to the eye: the contour of a car hood, the pattern of a knitted sweater, the shape of a computer monitor. Distinctive and attractive features like these give products a competitive edge.

If you produce distinctive-looking new products, you’ll want to register your designs.

When you register your industrial design, you gain exclusive, legally enforceable rights for up to 10 years in Canada. You can sell your rights or license others to make, use and sell your design.