Lawyers see work ahead as innovation economy takes hold

TORONTO As Canada’s economic growth becomes increasingly dependent on innovation and technology, the country ’s lawyers know one thing — they are going to be kept busy.

That’s the thrust of a new report from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, which notes that everything from patent issues spinning out from the “big bang” of cannabis legalization to battles over smart-city data collection will eventually intersect with law firms and the courts.

One reason is that economic and social change is coming so fast across such a range of subsectors that governments and regulators are struggling to keep up on several fronts, said Andrew Harrison, managing partner of the law firm’s Toronto’s office.

“In the absence of a strong regulatory framework, it may well be litigation in Canadian courts that, to a degree, shapes the guidance and rules needed to protect individuals and businesses,” declares the BLG report, published Monday, in a section about “smart” cities.

Getting frameworks in place — whether through the courts or through consultation — is crucial for both the rule-makers and the innovators, Harrison said, noting that the BLG report says some local developers of crypto-currency are already “considering foreign bases of operation” because of regulatory uncertainty. Of particular concern is clarity on whether crypto-currencies will be defined as securities.

We are helping clients establish protocols and policies for the cannabis sector to capture and protect their intellectual property.

The key for the innovators in any industry will be to capitalize on their first-to-market developments, Harrison said, while regulators and governments need to put in proper protections while creating a transparent and flexible marketplace that will keep homegrown innovators in the country.

The BLG report focuses on some “uniquely Canadian” innovations, such as those flowing from the legalization of cannabis, which remains illegal under U.S. federal law despite legalization in some states.

“It’s almost like a big bang,” Harrison said of the Oct. 17, 2018 legalization.

The rearranging of the cannabis universe continues with the planned legalization of edibles and concentrates, which can be put in food and drinks, in the coming year, something Harrison said is expected to lead to the registering of patents for the processes and technology needed to extract and process the derivatives.

Despite the novelty, he said there are parallels between the fledgling cannabis sector and the technological innovation and development that took place in the Alberta oilsands a decade ago, an experience the law firm is drawing on when dealing with clients.

“We are educating licensed (cannabis) producers on how to establish standing operating procedures to help them recognize when they have created a potentially patentable process or valuable trade secret,” the BLG report says.

“We have done this for clients operating in oil and gas, and other industries. Now we are helping clients establish similar protocols and policies for the cannabis sector to capture and protect their intellectual property.”