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Royal Commission on Patents, Copyright and Industrial Designs

The Royal Commission on Patents, Copyright and Industrial Designs sat between 1954 and 1960.

Patents, Copyright and Industrial Designs, Royal Commission on

The Royal Commission on Patents, Copyright and Industrial Designs sat between 1954 and 1960. Its brief was "to enquire as to whether federal legislation relating in any way to patents of invention, industrial designs, copyright and trademarks affords reasonable incentive to invention and research, to the development of literary and artistic talents, to creativeness, and to making available to the Canadian public scientific, technical, literary and artistic creations and other adaptations, applications and uses, in a manner and on terms adequately safeguarding the paramount public interest." The commission later requested that TRADEMARKS be removed from its brief. Three reports were published: Copyright, August 1957; Industrial Designs, June 1958; and Patents of Invention, December 1959. Chaired by J.L. ILSLEY, the commission heard from various public and private organizations and from individuals. In June 1966 the ECONOMIC COUNCIL OF CANADA examined the issues dealt with by the Ilsley Commission and, over the next 5 years, published a series of reports, including Special Study No 8, Science, Technology and Innovation, by A.H. Wilson, in 1968. The report emphasized the importance of innovation to industry.