The Federal Government in Canada is intensifying efforts to strengthen domestic ownership of intellectual property, particularly within strategically important sectors such as defence, advanced manufacturing and critical minerals, as governments seek to ensure that innovations developed in Canada remain under Canadian control.
The issue was explored in a recent Canadian Lawyer article examining the intersection of intellectual property, innovation funding and the federal government's significant defence spending. For the latter, as discussed in the article, this includes a commitment to an estimated $180 billion total direct investment in defence procurement and $290 billion total investment in defence-related infrastructure by 2035. The discussion comes as Canada pursues a broader industrial strategy designed to bolster national security, economic growth and technological sovereignty.
Kevin Shipley, partner and Head of Mechanical and Industrial Processes (Canada) provided expert commentary on the challenges Canadian companies have historically faced in retaining ownership of their innovations which can be provide difficult when companies seek capital, noting that “Once that investment starts coming in, it comes with strings, often including control, ownership or simply an acquisition of the company."
To counteract this, the government’s response has been to create dedicated IP funding programs for Canadian companies. Kevin highlighted ElevateIP at the federal level, IP Ontario at the provincial level, and IP Assist as examples of these successful funding programs, noting that this “is the first time where they’ve then created these funding programs specifically ... [which are] allowed to be used for things like IP strategy, planning and building that vision for a company". The main benefits to companies, as Kevin outlined from these various government funding initiatives, is that they "do not require the company to advance all the money and then wait 10 months and cross their fingers…,” instead under the program's payment structure, funding runs directly to IP service providers. Under the current economic landscape, he describes this as “a cautiously optimistic win.”
Kevin also discussed sector-specific incentives and government funding to support defence and space initiatives that support dual-use development – innovations serving both civilian and defence markets – “On the civilian side, you’re trying to grow a commercial market that will prop up the economics of your defence side…,” to contribute to higher returns on innovation.
You can read the article in Canadian Lawyer here.
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This is the first time where [the government] then created these funding programs specifically [for defence sector companies]... allowed to be used for things like IP strategy, planning and building that vision for a company.
