Glossary of Intellectual Property Terms

A 

 Abandonment

An application for trade-mark or copyright registration may be considered abandoned if the applicant does not take steps to complete the process. An application for Industrial design will be considered abandoned if the applicant fails to reply within the specified time to any report that sets out objections to registration.

 Abstract

A brief summary of an invention.

 Abuse of Patent

Abusing one's patent rights by failing to make one's invention commercially available in Canada without adequate reason.

 Advertisement

Publication of a trade-mark application in the Trade-marks Journal. Details are published to allow opportunity for challenges to the application (opposition).

 Allowance

Acknowledgement by the Trade-marks Office that an application is eligible for registration. The applicant receives a "Notice of Allowance" (not the same as "Certificate of Registration").

 Application

The formal request for registration of intellectual property.

 Artistic work

Any visual representation such as a painting, drawing, map, photograph, sculpture, engraving or architectural plan.

 Assignment

Transfer of intellectual property rights from the owner to another party.

 Author

The creator of an artistic, literary, musical or dramatic work.

B 

 Berne Copyright Convention

An international treaty extending copyright protection in member countries to nationals of other member countries. Canada is a signatory to this treaty.

C 

 Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)

Federal agency responsible for the administration of intellectual property laws (includes Copyright Office).

 Canadian Patent Database

Allows a preliminary search via the internet of the bibliographical information on issued patents and applications made public in Canada since 1920.

 Canadian Patent Office Record

The Canadian Patent Office Record is a weekly publication that contains various important notices and information on newly issued patents, laid-open applications, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications entering the national phase, and patents that are available for licence or sale.

 CANCOPY

A reprography collective that grants licences to photocopy works and collects fees on behalf of its members.

 Certificate of registration

Official confirmation that your design, copyright or trade-mark has been registered.

 Certification marks

Marks identifying goods or services meeting a defined standard (e.g., Wool Mark on clothing).

 Claims

The basis for filing an application that allows for the determination of the person entitled to the registration of the mark.

 Clearly descriptive

A mark that clearly describes a feature of a ware or service and that is therefore not registrable as a trade-mark.

 Collective

Organization that administers rights granted by the copyright system on behalf of copyright owners who have joined that collective.

 Compulsory licence

The right granted by the Comissioner of Patents to one or more parties to produce a patented invention. These are granted under certain circumstances as a measure against abuse of patent rights.

 Copyrights

Provide protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works,computer programs, and sound recordings.

 Copyright Act

Federal legislation governing copyright in Canada.

 Copyright Board of Canada

A tribunal that reviews and must approve all tariffs and fees proposed by the SOCAN, the Canadian performing rights society. The Board can also set royalties when asked to do so by either a collective or a user of a collective's repertoire.

 Copyright infringement

Violation of copyright through unauthorized copying or use of a work or other subject matter under copyright.

 Copyright Office

The federal government office responsible for registering copyrights and agreements affecting a copyright in Canada.

 Crown copyright

Copyright of works prepared for or published by the government, i.e., government publications.

D 

 Deceptively misdescriptive

A mark that deceptively misdescribes a feature of a ware or service in such a way as to potentially mislead the consumer is not registrable as a trade-mark.

 Declaration

Formal statement that you are the proprietor of the design and that, to your knowledge, no one else was using the design when you created it.
Copyright:Formal statement that the applicant is the author, the owner of the work, an assignee or a person to whom an interest in the copyright has been granted by licence.

 Description

A description is a basic requirement of an application for an industrial design. It identifies the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament that distinguish the design, and indicates whether the design resides in the entire article or a portion.

 Design patent

The term used in the United States to describe a form of protection similar to that of industrial design protection in Canada.

 Disclaimer

A statement that the applicant does not claim exclusive rights for a portion of the trade-mark.

 Distinguishing guise

The unique shape of a product or package that can be registered as a trade-mark.

 Dramatic work

Includes plays, screenplays, scripts, films, videos and choreographic works as well as translations of such works.

 Drawings

Drawings (or photographs) disclose the industrial design and are a basic requirement of a design application.

E 

 Examination

Trade-marks : The process through which the Trade-marks Office determines whether an application for trade-mark is registrable.

Industrial Designs : The process through which the Industrial Design Office determines whether a design warrants registration. The main objective is to determine whether the design is indeed design subject matter, that it is original, and that the documentation meets the requirements of the Acts and Rules.

Exception : A provision in a copyright law permitting the use of a work by defined user groups without the consent of its creator or without the payment of royalties, conditions that would normally constitute an infringement of copyright. Examples of user groups benefitting from exceptions are educational institutions, libraries, museums, archives and persons with a perceptual disability.

F 

 Fair dealing

Use of works for purposes of private study, research, criticism, review or news reporting that does not constitute infringement of copyright.

 Fees

Specific sums payable for various services provided by CIPO.

 First to file

A patent system in which the first inventor to file a patent application for a specific invention is entitled to the patent. In Canada and in most other countries, the first person to file has priority over other people claiming rights for the same invention.

I 

 Industrial design

The visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to a manufactured article. Registration provides protection against imitation and unauthorized use of the design.

 Industrial Design Act

Legislation governing registration and ownership of industrial designs in Canada.

 Industrial Design Office

The federal office responsible for registration of industrial designs.

 Infringement

Industrial Design: Violation of industrial design rights through unauthorized use of a design.

Trade-marks: Violation of trade-mark rights through unauthorized use of a trade-mark.

Patents: Making, using or selling an invention protected by a patent without the inventor's permission.

 Integrated circuit topography

a) The three-dimensional configuration of the electronic circuits embodied in integrated circuit products or layout designs.

b) Legal protection against imitation of this configuration.

 Intellectual property

A form of creative endeavour that can be protected through a trade-mark, patent, copyright, industrial design or integrated circuit topography.

L 

 Literary work

Work consisting of text such as novels, poems, song lyrics without music, catalogues, reports, tables as well as translations of such works. It also includes computer programs.

 Licence

Legal agreement granting someone permission to use a work for certain purposes or under certain conditions. A licence does not constitute a change in ownership of the copyright.

 Licensee

If an entity is licensed by or with the authority of the owner to use the mark, and the owner has direct or indirect control over the character or quality of the wares or services with which the mark is used, then the licensee’s use of the mark or a trade-name including the mark is deemed to have, and to always have had, the same effect as use by the owner.

 Licensing a design

Granting of an exclusive licence from the owner of the design to another party that allows said party to manufacture, use and sell the design, and to sub-licence others to do so.

 Licencing an invention

Allowing a business or individual to manufacture and sell an invention, usually in exchange for royalties.

M 

 Maintenance fee

Industrial design:  Fee required in order to maintain the rights to an industrial design for a second five-year period for designs registered after January 1, 1994.

Patents:  Annual fee to keep a patent (or applications on patents filed or issued after October 1, 1989.) in good standing.

 Marking

Copyrights: Indicating copyright with a small "c" in a circle (©), the name of the copyright owner and the year of first publication.

Industrial design: Signalling that a design is registered by placing a capital "D" in a circle along with the name, or abbreviation thereof, of the design's proprietor on the object to which the design has been applied, or to its label or packaging.

Trade-marks: Canada’s Trade-marks Act does not contain any marking requirements. However, trade-mark owners often indicate their registration through certain symbols, such as R in a circle (registered), TM (trade-mark), SM (service mark), MD (marque déposée) or MC (marque de commerce). (See Guide to Trade-marks for more information on marking.)

 Moral rights

Rights an author retains over the integrity of a work and the right to be named as its author even after sale or transfer of the copyright.

 Musical work

Work that consists of music plus lyrics or music only.

N 

 Nom-de-plume

A name used by a writer instead of his or her real name.

O 

 Opposition

The process whereby members of the public may object to the granting of a trade-mark registration if they have valid grounds for doing so.

P 

 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

An international treaty on intellectual property signed by some 90 nations, including Canada.

 Patent

A government grant giving the right to exclude others from making, using or selling an invention.

 Patent Cooperation Treaty

An international treaty providing for standardized filing procedures for foreign patents in the countries that have signed the treaty.

 Patent examiner

An official with technical expertise charged with the task of classifying a patent or an application, or of determining whether a patent application fulfills the requirements for a grant of patent.

 Patent Office

Canada's patent granting authority and disseminator of patent information.

 Patent Office Action

An official written communication by the Canadian Patent Office on the merits of an application.

 Patent pending

A label sometimes affixed to new products informing others that the inventor has applied for a patent and that legal protection from infringement (including retroactive rights) may be forthcoming.

 Performers and producers rights

A term used to indicate rights of performers and sound recording producers to be remunerated when their performances and sound recordings are performed publicly or broadcast. Also referred to as "neighbouring rights".

 Performing Rights Society

An organization that administers rights to perform musical works on behalf of composers, lyricists, songwriters and music publishers. (See SOCAN.)

 Plagiarism

Using the work (or part of it) of another person and claiming it as your own.

 Posthumous work

A work that is published for the first time (or, for certain types of works, published, performed or delivered in public for the first time) after the author's death.

 Preferred Embodiment

An explanation, in a patent application, of the most appropriate and useful practical applications of an invention.

 Prior art

Industrial Design : The body of registered industrial designs or other published designs including catalogues, manuals and other publications throughout the world relevant to the application for registration of a design.

 Private copying

Copying of pre-recorded musical works, performers' performances and sound recordings into a blank medium, such as audio tape or cassette, for personal use.

 Private Copying Levy

An amount of money established by the Copyright Board on blank recording media, whether made here or imported, by manufacturers and importers and is then sold in Canada redistributed to eligible composers, lyricists, performers and sound recording makers through their professional associations and collectives.

 Prosecution

All the steps involved in completing a patent application.

 Proprietor

The proprietor of an industrial design is the owner of the design. This can be the person who created it or who paid to have it created or who bought the design rights from the original owner.

 Publication

Making copies of a work available to the public. The construction of an architectural work and the incorporation of an artistic work into an architectural work are considered publication.

 Plant breeders’ denomination

A plant variety denomination is a right that is granted to the owner for the control over the multiplication and sale of reproductive material for a particular plant variety.

 Place of origin

A word or depiction that designates the origin of a product or service and that therefore may not be registered as a trade-mark.

 Preliminary search

The search of Trade-marks Office records that one should undertake before submitting an application for trade-mark registration. The search may turn up conflicting trade-marks and show that the application process would be in vain.

 Pre-publication verification

A second search of Trade-marks Office records to ensure that no confusing trade-marks exist before a given application is published in the Trade-marks Journal.

 Prohibited marks

Marks that are specifically prohibited from use as defined in section 9(1) of the Trade-marks Act

 Proposed use

A statement indicating intention to use a certain trade-mark and how that use will occur.

 Protected geographical indication

A geographical indication is an indication that identifies a wine or spirit as originating from a territory where a quality, reputation or other characteristics of the wine or spirit are essentially attributable to its geographical origin and that is listed on the List of Geographical Indications kept by the Registrar.

R 

 Registration

The granting of formal recognition of a trade-mark, copyright, industrial design, or integrated circuit topography by the Trade-marks, Copyright, and Industrial Design Office respectively.

 Registered Patent Agent

A specialist entitled to prepare and prosecute patent applications.

 Registered trade-mark

A trade-mark entered on the federal government’s Trade-marks Register, which formally recognizes the owner’s rights to the mark.

 Registrar of Trade-marks

The official responsible for the Canadian Trade-marks Office.

 Registrar of Copyrights

The official responsible for the Canadian Copyright Office.

 Registrar of Integrated Circuit Topographies

The official responsible for the Canadian Integrated Circuit Topography Office.

 Renewal fee

Industrial designs: Fee required in order to renew the rights to an industrial design for a second five-year period for designs registered prior to January 1, 1994.

Trade-marks: Fee required in order to renew a trade-mark registration for an additional fifteen-year period.

 Representative for service

A person in Canada appointed by the applicant or registered proprietor to receive documents on his/her behalf.

 Rome Convention country

A country that is party to the international convention for the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations done at Rome on October 26, 1961.

 Royalty

A sum paid to copyright owners for the sale or use of their works, or other subject matter.

S 

 Search

The act of searching through intellectual property records in order to verify whether a patent, trade-mark or industrial design has been previously filed or registered.

 Small entity

"Small entity" in respect of an invention, means an entity that employs 50 or fewer employees or that is a university, but does not include an entity that:

(a) has transferred or licensed, or is under a contractual or other legal obligation to transfer or license, any right in the invention to an entity, other than a university, that employs more than 50 employees, or

(b) has transferred or licensed, or is under a contractual or other legal obligation to transfer or license, any right in the invention to an entity that employs 50 or fewer employees or that is a university, and has knowledge of any subsequent transfer or license of, or of any subsisting contractual or other legal obligation to transfer or license, any right in the invention to an entity, other than a university, that employs more than 50 employees.

 SOCAN

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. SOCAN is the only performing rights society in Canada.

 Sound recording

A device which produces sounds, such as cassette, record, or CD player.

 Special Order Examination

A request to the Patent Office for early consideration of a patent application.

 Specification

Part of the patent application. It includes a detailed description of the invention, claims specifying the aspects of the invention for which protection is sought, and the extent of the protection being sought

T 

 Tariff

A standard charge for use of copyrighted works. Usually applies to fees paid by users of musical works and cable companies for the rebroadcast of programs.

 TechSource

TechSource is an electronic patent system that holds the scanned images of over 1.3 million patent documents dating back to 1920 and the text version of patent documents from 1978.

 Trade-mark

A word, symbol or design, or combination of these, used to distinguish the goods or services of one party from those of another.

 Trade secret

Information about a product or process kept secret from competitors.

 Trade-mark agent

A trade-mark agent is a person whose name is entered on the list of trade-mark agents and who is therefore entitled to practice before the Trade-marks Office.

 Trade-marks Act

Federal legislation governing trade-mark registration in Canada.

 Trade-marks Journal

A publication of the Trade-marks Office issued weekly and containing all approved applications and Office rulings.

 Trade-marks Office

The federal agency responsible for registering trade-marks in Canada.

 Trade-marks records

The inventory of registered trade-marks and pending applications maintained by the Trade-marks Office at its premises in Gatineau, Quebec.

 Trade-marks register

The official listing of registered trade-marks.

 Trade name

The name under which a company chooses to operate. Trade names may or may not be considered trade-marks, depending on the circumstances.

U 

 Universal Copyright Convention

A country that is party to the Universal Copyright Convention, adopted on September 6, 1952 in Geneva, Switzerland, or to that convention as revised in Paris, France, on July 24, 1971.

W 

 WTO member country

A Country that is a member of the World Trade Organization as defined in subsection 2(1) of the World Trade Organization Agreement Implementation Act.