Combatting climate change through better IP policy

Much of the conversation in 2019 in politics regarding climate change revolved around carbon pricing and its effectiveness on combatting the realistic threat that Canada and the world faces from rising temperatures. This, coupled with the conversations on Trans Mountain pipeline, unfortunately took most of the oxygen away from conversations about how to spark growth in Canada’s growing clean technology sector. This is an industry that should be positioned to take advantage of a global clean technology market which is expected to exceed $2.5-trillion by 2022. Canada’s Economic Strategy Tables have also set an ambitious goal for clean technology to be one of our top five exporting industries by 2025, accounting for $20-billion in annual exports. The path to getting there, however, is unclear. In their 2019 platform, the Liberal Party of Canada promised to “cut in half the corporate tax paid by companies that develop and manufacture zero-emissions technology.” Canada’s clean technology sector is one of the most innovative in the world. For example, we continue to be one of the early adopters of carbon capture and storage technology which allows energy development to be cleaner and greener than many other jurisdictions. While the Liberals' pledge may help businesses free up cash for reinvesting in growth, many continue to face barriers to growth throughout their lifecycle. Unfortunately, intellectual property (IP) continues to be left out of the conversation when speaking about policies to support our green economy. This is despite evidence that shows that businesses who are early users of our patent system see significant growth in sales, employment and the quality of subsequent innovations. While I applaud the government for creating the first ever National IP Strategy, in its current form it has a greater focus on raising IP literacy and awareness than it does on policies that will spark IP activity within Canadian businesses. We need to continue to refine and build on the national strategy and follow it up with policies and funding to drive IP activity and subsequent exploitation of that IP here at home. Specifically, this means putting in place financial incentives that would support a business’s IP activity at the various stages of their lifecycle. For example, the University of Cambridge conducted a study that researched hundreds of new green technology companies in the U.S. The study confirmed that early patenting activity of a start-up increases by more than 73 per cent on average when it collaborates with a government agency. This can be done through a ‘first patent’ reimbursement program, which has been effective for Quebec in subsidizing 50 per cent of the patenting expenses a small business incurs in getting their first-ever patent. To support a wider portion of a clean technology businesses lifecycle, Quebec eventually replaced the “first patent” program with an Innovation Fund providing financial assistance for innovation of new products and protection of their IP on a wider basis including first and subsequent patents or other forms of IP. In addition to other programs, Quebec has recently dedicated $18.4-million targeted to supporting clean-tech innovation. Successful applicants will be provided with up to $2-million in funding that can be used to offset 50 per cent of eligible expenses including the elaboration of an IP strategy and the legal activities towards securing IP rights. Finally, to support the scaling and export business of successful Canadian clean technology companies, government should explore the idea of creating an IP box to provide favourable tax treatment for income derived from exploitation of IP in the clean-tech sector. This IP tax break would provide the appropriate downstream incentive for Canadian companies to scale and become profitable, but also upstream to encourage companies to innovate, conduct more research, and to protect their IP knowing the competitive edge they will receive once they become profitable. Of course, this also creates an attractive regulatory environment in Canada that could attract and retain clean-tech companies and their IP. While there is no magic bullet in supporting Canada’s green economy and fighting climate change, we cannot continue to ignore the benefits that companies derive from intellectual property. Cutting corporate taxes in half for clean-tech companies is a good first step, however, the industry requires a suite of policies which encourage innovation, IP protection, and exploitation of that IP at home and beyond our borders. If we truly believe climate change to be the fight of our time, and the government believes Canadian companies can be significant players in the global clean-tech market, we need to support them through good IP policy incentives. Adam Kingsley is executive director of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. The Hill Times

Combatting climate change through better IP policy

If we truly believe climate change to be the fight of our time, and the government believes Canadian companies can be significant players in the global clean-tech market, we need to support them through good IP policy incentives.

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Combatting climate change through better IP policy

If we truly believe climate change to be the fight of our time, and the government believes Canadian companies can be significant players in the global clean-tech market, we need to support them through good IP policy incentives.

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