Tag Archives: Canada

The following post provides an overview of the issues related to Japan–Canada Intellectual Property Rights (hereafter referred to as IPR). As will be detailed below, there exists more agreement between the two economies than opposition on this issue. Therefore, this report will focus primarily on the agreements that Japan and Canada have in force with other economies around the world to use as a basis for an agreement between each other. Issues of disagreement and concern will also be addressed – but play a much smaller role in this report due to the very lack of difference.

Economies today are linked together in ways that trading systems of past did not have to consider. Trading relationships between economies have increasingly been playing catch-up with advancements in technology and knowledge transfer. Commerce conducted in the twenty-first century involves much more than just ‘goods’, trade increasingly involves services and IPR.

The fundamental rights protected by IPR are over a person’s right to creations of their own mind. IPR includes coverage of patents, trademarks and copyrights. These commercial items are so intrinsically linked to products and services in commerce today that they can actually be more important than the actual goods or services they protect.

The WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, otherwise known as TRIPS, setup the international rules governing intellectual property. TRIPS is the baseline for all agreements between economies on the topic of IPR. All free trade agreements (FTA) and economic partnership agreements (EPA) reference TRIPs and either modify or reiterate this agreement.

Canada and Japan work together in many international forums that are developing IPR for the future. Because these two economies work together in these international venues – many of the issues surrounding IPR for each country are well known and understood.

A few issues of disagreement may arise during trade negotiations. In the past, Japan has complained about Canada’s enforcement of IPR within its borders, citing evidence that Japanese IPR has been infringed upon, meaning that pirated goods have been found within Canada. Another issue of IPR may be generic pharmaceuticals produced in Canada.

Many of the points of agreement arise from the very fact that Canada and Japan are developed economies – that both share narrow interpretations of IPR. Both countries – as a percentage of GDP – have large industrial (Japan 23%, Canada 20%) and service (Japan 75.9%, Canada 78%) sectors. Issues surrounding IPR protections will inevitably arise in trade negotiations, but will likely be minor in relation to other sectors.