Looking forward to the next five years / Conclusion

Business Plan 2011–2012 (PDF - 956 Kb - 26 pages)

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Looking forward to the next five years

As we launch our next Five-Year Strategic Plan, we must pay attention to the international and operational trends driving change:

International environment

  • World IP trends — WIPO has identified a number of IP trends, including the following:
    • an uncertain global economic recovery;
    • the internationalization of innovation (e.g. 21.9 percent of scientific articles were internationally coauthored in 2007, three times as many as in 1985);
    • a geographical shift in innovation activities on a global scale (e.g. China, Japan and Republic of Korea accounted for 29.2 percent of international patent application filings in 2009, compared to just 7.6 percent in 1994); and
    • the requirement to improve IP rights participation of developing countries.
  • Canada's IP framework — Canada's IP regime needs to be brought up to modern standards to improve overall administrative efficiencies, decrease uncertainty for businesses and inventors, and support new types of IP.
  • Increased pressure for better alignment — Canada is facing increased pressure to align with international agreements including the Madrid Protocol, the Singapore Treaty, the Patent Law Treaty, the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement, as well as to actively engage non-Madrid Member States to better support inventors who operate on a global scale and to maximize the benefits to Canadians of the IP system.
  • Market for IP — Forty years ago, tangible assets, namely land and equipment, made up the bulk of a business's net worth. Today, intangible assets such as IP have eclipsed the value of traditional, hard assets. The market for IP as a tradable commodity is now well established and growing globally.

Operational environment

  • Demographic challenges — Demographic data tells us that CIPO can expect significant turnover in the coming years. Succession planning and knowledge transfer must therefore be addressed at the organization's many levels.
  • Accountability — A corporate-wide evaluation of CIPO will commence this year. The spotlight will be turned on accountability and meeting objectives. We must ensure that we have what we need in place to be best of class as an SOA.
  • Our clients — The global environment is transforming itself by the second. The worth and importance of IP is growing. While EBR is a start, CIPO must continue to adapt and innovate in order to meet the needs of Canadian inventors and businesses.

While these trends represent challenges for CIPO, they are also opportunities. For example, the demographic shift that CIPO is about to face is a chance to renew ourselves and to strengthen our dynamic culture. We can use this opportunity to choose leaders who can build bridges inside and outside of CIPO. Partnerships will help CIPO to operate domestically and internationally, and help us to move forward with our mandate to support Canadian innovation.

Conclusion

CIPO has reached the final leg of the journey we started four years ago — and look how far we have come. We have used innovation to achieve progress against all of our strategic directions: client services, outreach, IP administrative framework, international activities and our people — and we are now looking forward to the next five years.

What will CIPO look like in 2017? Will it be robust enough to thrive in a constantly evolving business landscape?

While we cannot predict what will happen over the next five years, we can plan ahead and prepare to confront the challenges that we will face head on. CIPO has already made key strides in building an innovative organization, and a workforce that has shown its ability to adapt and its commitment to change. CIPO's Business Plan 2011–2012 reflects that commitment to complete the journey we began four years ago, and to confidently plan for the next one.

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