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Industry Committee Launches New Study on Intellectual Property

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, fresh off its e-commerce study, kicks off a new study on intellectual property this morning. The study will apparently focus on “the important role of intellectual property in Canadian innovation and leading edge technology.” Today’s hearing will feature witnesses from CIPO and Industry Canada’s IP policy office. The other witnesses have not been announced, but it is essential that the committee hear from independent experts and innovative companies who go beyond cheerleading intellectual property under the “more is better” mantra by also pointing to the risks from overbroad patent laws that can harm innovation, restrictive trademark protections that can stifle free speech, and inflexible copyright laws that undermine innovation and leading edge technologies. The challenge for the committee is to ensure that it strikes a balance so that it can develop an informed report that provides useful recommendations for future government action.  

4 Comments

  1. pat donovan says:

    cheerleaders, anyone?
    this sounds like another effort to bury a study under crap.. (not you, mike. them)

    the bottle-necking will continue till the economy collapses… with mercantile monopolies being granted to the privileged.

    again, privacy, property and freedom of information are all being used as gov’t (freedom, liberty, privilege and prerogatives)
    rights. exclusive rights are a matter of privilege.

    preemptive copyright charges on students, anyone?

    packrat

  2. culturegap says:

    >preemptive copyright charges on students, >anyone?
    >packrat
    Done and done.
    Isn’t that Access copyright? Another surcharge on canadian tuitions.

  3. Copyright
    Next Monday and Tuesday, report and third reading of C-11

  4. Victoria says:

    Terms of Reference
    Are there terms of reference published for this study?