Canada’s Entrepreneurs who seek to create a business must be aware of the Intellectual Property Law, even if they are immigrants. This will enable them to protect their business and other intellectual properties.
Canada’s Entrepreneurs – Intellectual Property
Intellectual property might include innovations, cutting-edge technology, fresh brands, proprietary software, cutting-edge designs, one-of-a-kind methods, and more. According to the Canadian government website, it is vital to employ intellectual property wisely to manage a firm. Moreover, protecting these assets can provide them with a competitive edge in the market.
Applying for a patent, trademark, or copyright registration in Canada is one way to safeguard your intellectual property.
Patent
The government grants the inventor the right to prevent others from creating, using, or selling an invention through the use of a patent. This applies from the day the patent gets up to 20 years after application submission. A Canadian patent confers rights that apply exclusively within Canada and not to other nations. Similarly, an invention in Canada is not covered by a foreign patent.
The patent belongs to the person who submits a patent application for an invention first. If someone else is on a similar path, you should file as soon as feasible.
A piece of invention qualifies for patent protection if:
- New and primary in the world.
- Useful, operative, and innovative.
- Being inventive means coming up with something surprising to a person with ordinary expertise in the relevant profession.
The creation must additionally:
- A thing
- A work of art
- A device
- A procedure
- A step up from any of these
Patent Act
If someone creates, uses, or sells your patented innovation in Canada without your consent, that is considered patent infringement. You might be eligible to file a lawsuit for damages if you think your patent has been violated.
Articles do not need to have a designation “patented” according to the Patent Act. After you have submitted your application, you might want to indicate that your innovation is “Patent applied for” or “Patent pending.” It may serve as a warning to others that you will be able to enforce your exclusive right to make the innovation once a patent is awarded. This applies even if these terms have no legal significance.
For further information, go to the Government of Canada’s page on patents.
Trademarks
A trademark is a grouping of letters, words, sounds, or visual elements that sets one company’s products or services as distinct from those of other businesses. When you register a trademark, you receive ten years of renewed exclusivity to use it in Canada.
Over time, a trademark may come to represent the manufacturer’s reputation. Additionally, it may also represent the actual goods and services that a person or business offers.
Trademarks come in two varieties:
Ordinary Trademark– To differentiate the products or services of one person or organization from those of competitors, a trademark is useful. It consists of the following:
- Words, designs, tastes, textures, moving images;
- Modes of packaging, holograms, sounds, scents, three-dimensional shapes, colors, or a combination of these.
Certification Mark- It can be authorized by numerous individuals or businesses to demonstrate that specific products or services adhere to a specified standard.
It is vital to ensure that there is no confusion between your trademark with someone else’s. For this, a useful initial step will be to search the Canadian Trademarks Database before a trademark application submission. If it does, you may be guilty of trademark infringement and sent to court.
For more information, go to the trademarks section of the Government of Canada website.
Copyright
The sole legal authority to create, duplicate, publish, or perform a unique literary, artistic, dramatic, or musical work is called copyright. The copyright owner is typically the person who created the work. However, unless a written agreement exists to the contrary, an employer may have a copyright in works produced by employees.
All original creative works fall under Canadian law protection. However, they must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Copyright Act. Owning the copyright to a piece of work gives you authority over its usage. Additionally, anyone who wants to use it must get your permission first.
In most cases, the moment you create a unique work, it is copyright protected.
When you register your copyright, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office issues you a certificate useful as ownership proof in court.
In Canada, you have a copyright both while alive and for 70 years after your passing. Moreover, the work is in the public domain after your death, so anyone may use it.
How to Become Canada’s Entrepreneurs?
Numerous immigration alternatives are available to immigrant entrepreneurs who want to move to Canada to start and develop a new business concept.
Immigrant business owners are encouraged to expand in Canada under the Federal Start-Up Visa Program. Successful applicants are connected with Canadian private sector organizations where they can obtain funding, knowledge, and advice for beginning and running their businesses.
Canada seeks entrepreneurs with the ability to establish creative businesses that can fill employment gaps in the domestic labor market and compete globally.
Also, a variety of entrepreneur categories are available through the Provincial Nominee Programs in Canadian provinces. Immigrant entrepreneurs seeking to become Canada’s Entrepreneurs can use these criteria to locate in a certain area.
Furthermore, for eligible business owners and managers who can start or buy an industrial, commercial, or agricultural enterprise in Quebec, there is a category called “Quebec Entrepreneur.”
