Patents

A patent is a proprietary right which is granted for an invention: any new, useful product, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereon. A Canadian patent gives the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention in Canada from the day the patent is granted to a maximum of 20 years calculated from the day on which the Canadian patent application was filed.

For more information on Patents, download the Canadian Intellectual Property Office's "A Guide to Patents".