Professor Geist’s weekly Toronto Star Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) examines the recent intervention by the Canadian government in the Research in Motion patent dispute. The column argues that rather than criticizing the government for its involvement, a more appropriate response would be to ask what took it so long, since the U.S. has long adopted an aggressive extra-territorial approach to intellectual property policy. While there remains doubt about the government’s position on other IP issues, the decision to intervene may foreshadow a greater willingness to stand up for the national interest.