w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 47
from the firm's Ottawa office. "The
promise doctrine was seen as a thorn,
an issue that would come up when
NAFTA was renegotiated," White says.
"This Supreme Court decision was
watched with great interest both in and
outside of Canada. It's a very significant
decision."
Indeed, Canada has been on the
United States trade department's "watch
list" for a dozen or so years, says Tomas
Karger, a registered patent agent and
associate of Sim & McBurney LLP
in Toronto. In the 2017 report of the
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative,
Karger notes, Canada was named as
a country placing roadblocks in front
of innovators or brand pharmaceutical
developers.
"U.S. innovators face challen-
ges including restrictive patentability
criteria, that undermine opportunities
for export growth in countries such as
Argentina, Canada, India, and Indo-
nesia," the USTR report stated.
"In addition, the United States con-
tinues to have serious concerns about
[ASTRAZENECA] REAFFIRMS THAT
CANADA HAS A STRONG PATENT
SYSTEM, AND AS A JURISDICTION IT
CAN BE ATTRACTIVE IN TERMS OF IP
RIGHTS: BOTH LAW AND REMEDIES.
STEVEN GARLAND, Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh
S M A R T - B I G G A R . C A
O T T A W A / T O R O N T O / M O N T R E A L / V A N C O U V E R / C A L G A R Y
U N P A R A L L E L E D I P
The world's most innovative
companies choose Canada's
leader for intellectual property
Canada's Intellectual Property
Litigation Firm of the Year
Benchmark Canada Awards 2017
Canadian Trademark Contentious Firm
of the Year Award Managing Intellectual
Property's North America Awards in 2017
Top Tier for Intellectual Property
in Canada The Legal 500 Canada 2017
Band 1 for Intellectual Property
Law in Canada Chambers & Partners –
The World's Leading Lawyers for
2017 edition
Untitled-7 1 2017-08-09 4:12 PM
