In this guide, you will find information, resources, and links about Intellectual Property Law. This includes some of the following subjects:
- Copyright
- Patents
- Trade Marks
- Intellectual Property Law and Business
- Intellectual Property Agreements
Texts
and Business
- Canada’s intellectual property law, 4th ed. by Martin P. Kratz.
- Canadian intellectual property law & strategy : trademarks, copyright, & industrial designs, by John S. McKeown.
- The corporate counsel guide to intellectual property law, by Sheldon Burshtein.
- Intellectual property : the law in Canada, 2nd ed. by Elizabeth F. Judge & Daniel J. Gervais.
- Intellectual property law : copyright, patents, trade-marks, 2nd. ed. (available online) by David Vaver.
- I thought of that! : a practical guide to patents, trade-marks, and copyright, by Ronald E. Dimock.
- Law of trade secrets and confidential information in Canada, (available online)by Matt Malone.
Last revised September 2026
- Canadian copyright/industrial designs benchbook, 2nd ed. editor Donald Cameron.
- Canadian copyright law, 4th ed. by Lesley Ellen Harris.
- Copyright legislation and commentary (available online).
- Digital copyright law, (available online) by Cameron Hutchison.
- Fox on Canadian law of copyright and industrial designs, 4th ed. (available online) by John S. McKeown.
- Hughes on copyright and industrial design, 2nd ed. by Roger T. Hughes et al.
- Music borrowing and copyright law : a genre-by-genre analysis edited by Enrico Bonadio & Chen Wei Zhu.
- Protecting copyright and industrial design 2000, 2nd ed. by Martin P. Kratz. Table of contents.
Last revised September 2026
- Annotated Patent Act, (available online via Westlaw) by Bruce Stratton.
- Canadian Patent Act annotated, 2nd ed. (available online) by Robert H. Barrigar & Andrew Shaughnessy.
- Canadian patent law, 5th ed. by Stephen J. Perry & T. Andrew Currier.
- Canadian patent law benchbook, 4th ed. by Donald Cameron ed.
- Fox on the Canadian law of patents, 5th ed. (available online via Westlaw) by Donald MacOdrum .
- Hughes & Woodley on patents, 2nd ed. by Roger T. Hughes et al.
- Patent law of Canada, by Gordon F. Henderson.
Last revised September 2026
- Canadian intellectual property law and strategy : trademarks, copyright and industrial design, by John S. McKeown.
- Canadian Trade-Marks Act annotated, (available online) by Hughes G. Richard.
- Canadian trademark law, 2nd ed. by Teresa Scassa.
- Canadian trademark law benchbook, 3rd ed. by Donald Cameron ed.
- Fox on Canadian law of trade-marks & unfair competition, 4th ed. (available online) by Scott R. Jolliffe & Kelly A. Gill.
- Hughes on trade marks, 2nd ed. by Roger T. Hughes.
- Kerly’s law of trade marks and trade names,17th ed. by Sir James Mellor et al.
- Law of social media and domain names, (available online) by Sheldon Burshtein & Anthony Turco.
- Odutola on Canadian trademark practice, (available online) by Bayo Odutola & Sylvie-Emanuelle Bourbonnais.
- Trade-Marks Act and commentary. (available online)
- Trade-Marks and unfair competition law in Canada : cases and commentary, 2nd ed. by Bita Amani & Carys Craig.
Last revised September 2026
- Branding and copyright for charities and non-profit organizations, 3rd ed. (available online) by Terrance Carter & Shen Goh.
- Brand management in Canadian law, 5th ed. by John S. McKeown.
- Canadian intellectual property law : cases and materials, 3rd ed. by Greg Hagen et al.
- Canada’s internet law in a nutshell, by Martin P. J. Kratz.
- Employment obligations & confidential information, 3rd ed. (available online) by Gregory K. Steele & Kenneth Thornicroft.
- Information technology transactions : business, management and legal strategies, 3rd ed. by Duncan Cornell Card.
- Intellectual property disputes : resolutions & remedies, (available online) by Ronald E. Dimock.
- Intellectual property enforcement in the digital world, by Melise R. Blakeslee.
- Law of confidential business information, (available online) by Keith G. Fairbairn & J. Thorburn.
- Ramsay on technology transfers and licensing, 3rd ed. by John Ramsay.
- Secured lending in intellectual property, 2nd ed. by Kiriakoula Hatzikiriakos.
- Security interests in intellectual property by Howard P. Knopf.
- Sookman : computer, internet & electronic commerce law, (available online) by Barry B. Sookman.
- Technology contracting : law, precedents and commentary, (available online) by Brad Limpert.
Last revised September 2026
Forms & Precedents
- Bullen & Leake & Jacob’s Canadian precedents of pleadings, 3rd ed. v. 3
- Canadian forms & precedents : commercial transactions. Information technology & entertainment, 2nd ed. (available online) by Lisa K. Abe et al.
- Canadian forms & precedents : commercial transactions. Intellectual property, 2nd ed. (available online) by Toni Ashton.
- Forms and agreements on intellectual property & international licensing, 3rd ed. by Leslie William Melville.
- Franchising, licensing and distribution forms & precedents, by Edward N. Levitt & Lawrence M. Weinberg.
- Hughes on trade marks, 2nd ed. by Roger T. Hughes.
- Intellectual property management : best practices, by John T. Ramsay.
- Intellectual property litigation : forms and precedents, by Paul Lomic.
Includes CD with forms. - Technology contracting : law, precedents and commentary, (available online) by Brad Limpert.
- O’Brien’s encyclopedia of forms, 11th ed. by John Honsberger
Case Law
For more information on finding cases see our research guide: Finding and Researching Cases
- Canadian patent reporter (C.P.R.)
Also available online through Westlaw Edge Canada. - Patent, Trade Mark, Design and Copyright Cases
Also available online through Westlaw Edge Canada.
- CanLII
- Copyright Board of Canada – Includes administrative decisions of the Board since 1990.
- Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents – Includes decisions of the Commissioner since 1989.
- ICLR
- Lexis+™ Canada
- Trade-Marks Opposition Board – Includes coverage of the Board’s decisions since 1990.
- vLex Justis
- Westlaw Edge Canada
The Canadian abridgment on: Westlaw Edge Canada
All Canadian summaries, Canadian case summaries and Canada digest available on: Lexis+™ Canada
Legislation
In Canada, the regulation of Intellectual Property is a matter of Federal responsibility.
- Competition Act, RSC 1985, c. C-34
- Copyright Act, RSC 1985, c C-42
- Industrial Design Act, RSC 1985 c. I-9
- Patent Act, RSC 1985, c. P-4
- Trade-marks Act, RSC 1985, c. T-13
Last revised Jan. 5, 2023
Federal Acts and Regulations can be found electronically at:
Websites of interest
- Canadian Intellectual Property Office – provides information on all areas of Canadian intellectual property law, including links to relevant federal legislation, forms, guides, publications, news, and additional information.
- World Intellectual Property Organization – includes an extensive collection of international material on intellectual property, treaties and laws.
Encyclopedias
- Canadian encyclopedic digest (C.E.D.) (Western),(available online) 4th ed.
The CED provides discussion with annotations to legislation and case law.
Sections relate to intellectual property include:
- Copyright.
- Patents.
- Trade-marks and industrial designs.
- Halsbury’s Laws of Canada (available online)
This multi-volume set includes coverage of Federal, Provincial & Territorial legislation.
Titles related to Intellectual Property Law include:
- Copyright (HCY)
- Patents, trade secrets and industrial designs (HPT)
- Trade-marks, passing off and unfair competition (HTM)
Additional information may be found under other topical headings.
Journals
- Canadian journal of law & technology (CJLT) – Publication ceased in 2007.
- Intellectual property journal (IPJ) (available online)
Indexes
- Index to Canadian legal literature (ICLL) (available online)
- Current index to legal periodicals (CILP) (available online)
Additional full-text articles are available electronically through:
- Canlii – commentary – contains books, articles and reports.
- HeinOnline – provides full-text access to Canadian and international law reviews and legal journals
- Lexis+™ Canada
- vLex Justis
- Westlaw Edge – contains a collection of Canadian journals and law reviews, as well as all articles and case comments appearing in Carswell law reports.
- DLA Piper intellectual property law newsletter
- Mann’s Technology law newsletter
- McKeowan brand management in Canada
For more information on looking for journal articles see our research guide Finding journal articles, conference materials & theses
Last revised September 2026
Disclaimer: As law librarians, we are pleased to provide you this resource for information and research purposes only – It is not a substitute for professional legal advice. We strive to bring you quality and current information in this resource, but we make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, accessibility, adequacy, or completeness of the information presented here. The sources featured are selected based on professional assessment and opinion, and do not constitute an endorsement, editorial, review, or guarantee.