Le Droit Canadien Des Brevets En Capsule

As many authors have already observed, intellectual property increasingly permeates ordinary people’s daily lives. And yet, this area of law, reputed for its complexity and its constant evolution prompted by frequent legislative activities and case law developments, is to a great extent portrayed as the exclusive province of specialists. Nevertheless, patent law, like other legislative activity, must not be reserved to the experts: to the contrary it should be made accessible to the ordinary jurist and, whenever possible, to the general public. Accordingly, this article, which will appear in two parts, seeks to provide a concise text, aimed at those interested in a succinct overview of the present state of Canadian patent law. In this first part, we present the normative sources of the relevant Canadian legal regime and proceed to succinctly explain what can be patented and the conditions of patentability. The second part, to be published in an upcoming issue of the Review, will deal with the scope and limits of exclusive rights, the procedure to obtain patent protection and the duration of the legal protection.