September 14, 2006
Bill 14 – Proposed Amendments to Ontario’s Law Society Act
Cynthia Rowden, current President of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (“IPIC”), appeared on September 13, 2006, before the Ontario government’s Standing Committee on Justice Policy. She made submissions on behalf of IPIC regarding Bill 14, proposed amendments to Ontario’s Law Society Act and other legislation that would change the current regulation of patent and trade mark agents in Ontario.
Currently, registered patent and trade mark agents are regulated by the provisions of both the Patent Act and Trade-marks Act, which require a period of training, followed by examination, before registration as an agent. The Ontario government, in attempting to regulate the activities of currently unregulated paralegals, added a definition of “providing legal services” to the Law Society Act, and the definition would clearly cover the regular activities of patent and trade mark agents. The proposed legislation requires all those providing legal services to be regulated by the Law Society, which could provide for mandatory education and licensing requirements for agents.
IPIC’s position was that the legislation was unconstitutional, given the existing Federal legislation, and would also, if implemented for patent and trade mark agents in Ontario, make qualification both more time consuming and more expensive. This would not only discourage individuals from choosing this profession, but would make the protection of IP rights in Ontario more expensive. IPIC felt its submissions were well received, and is hopeful that the Bill will be amended before it receives Third Reading in the Legislature.
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