In a step towards ratifying the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the Canadian government introduced Bill C-100, entitled "An Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States" in Parliament on 29 May 2019.
Canada, the United States and Mexico signed the USMCA, dubbed at the time as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA 2.0), on 30 November 2018. If ratified, the USMCA will replace the NAFTA and will require several changes to Canada's IP laws, including the following four changes, which are of particular significance:
- The data protection term for biologics will be increased from eight years to 10 years.
- A patent term adjustment procedure to compensate for Patent Office delays in issuing a patent will be introduced.
- The copyright term will be increased from the life of the author plus 50 years to the life of the author plus 70 years.
- Suspected counterfeit goods that are in transit (ie, travelling through, but not destined for, Canada) will become susceptible to detention at the border.
There are further impacts on Canadian IP law stemming from the USMCA (for further details please see "USMCA versus NAFTA: what's changed and what it means for intellectual property in Canada").
Bill C-100 has received its first reading in the House of Commons. After a second reading and debate in the house, the bill will be sent to a committee for review and a report will be sent to the house. After passing a third reading in the House of Commons, it will undergo a similar process in the Senate. Once the house and Senate have passed Bill C-100 in the same form, it can receive royal assent by the governor general and subsequently become law. The act would largely come into force on the day on which the USMCA enters into force.
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