Share of Canadian Businesses That Own IP by Type

Intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, industrial designs, and non-disclosure agreements) is held by a relatively small share of Canadian firms, with particularly low uptake of patents (5.8%) and trade secrets (3.1%). This suggests that most businesses are either not generating protectable intangible assets or, more likely, are failing to systematically protect them. This is weakening Canada’s IP export performance and worsening its IP payments balance.