North America: Intellectual Property

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has undergone significant transformations in recent months, from administrative policy shifts to the integration of artificial intelligence in patent examination processes. How are these changes reshaping the landscape for intellectual property practitioners, and what do new policies on examiner interviews, application backlogs, and Inter Partes Review mean for patent prosecution strategies?

Developments since then, including renewed U.S. attention to most‑favored‑nation (“MFN”) drug pricing have heightened the legal and policy concerns associated with that notice. In our view, those concerns merit renewed scrutiny.

Ontario’s innovation economy continues to mature, yet there is a persistent and material gap in how businesses approach intellectual property (IP). Only a small minority of Canadian companies adopt a formal IP strategy, and even fewer actively secure their intangible assets through patents, trademarks and other IP registrations. According to the Government of Canada’s own evaluation of its National IP Strategy, just 8% of small firms hold a formal IP strategy, compared with 42% of large organizations.