OTTAWA — The Government of Canada is launching a call for directors to oversee the new College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents as part of the federal government’s Intellectual Property Strategy to make Canada a leader in generating and strategically leveraging IP investments.
The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), issued the call for diverse and talented Canadians to form the first board of directors of the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents. The creation of the College was first announced in the federal government’s Budget 2018. The board of directors will help lay the foundation for the College and ensure that a robust, public interest-minded body oversees intellectual property agents, ISED said in a news release.
The College will benefit Canadian innovation by ensuring that businesses can trust the advice they receive from these important professionals that will help bring Canadian ideas to global markets and compete globally, ISED said in its release. The College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents will be responsible for maintaining the high standards that are expected of trusted patent and trademark advisors. It will administer a licensing system, making sure that only qualified professionals are authorized to provide agent services.
“Intellectual property is vital to driving our innovation economy forward. The new College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents along with its governing board will raise the bar of IP professional services in Canada, making sure Canadians have the highest quality of IP support to grow their businesses and create good middle-class jobs,” ISED Minister Bains said in the news release.
The new College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents will be an independent regulator responsible for enforcing a code of professional conduct and implementing requirements for professional development to ensure that agents stay informed of the ever-evolving IP landscape and deliver high-quality advice. The board of directors will include five members working on a part-time basis to establish the College. Two of the directors will be appointed on the recommendation of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada.
Interested applicants can find more information about the College’s board of director opportunity by clicking here. More information about the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents can by found here.
The call for directors to oversee the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents follows ISED’s announcement last week that it is launching a Patent Collective pilot program to assist small and medium-sized businesses with their patent and other IP needs, as Cartt.ca reported here.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
