What we do
Furman IP Law & Strategy PC provides the full range of IP prosecution and advisory services to Canadian and international businesses. The following outlines what we do and how we can help.
Patent Services
Patents protect novel inventions — new products, processes, compositions, and the like. A granted Canadian patent gives you the exclusive right to make, use, and sell your invention for up to 20 years from the date of filing. Filing strategy, timing, and claim scope all materially affect the value of the protection you ultimately obtain.
Patent protection in Canada follows a clear filing-to-grant timeline, but the strategic decisions made early — where to file first, how broadly to draft claims, and when to request examination — often determine how much protection a business actually ends up with. Canada affords a twelve-month grace period for an inventor’s own public disclosure, though most other jurisdictions do not, so timing a first filing correctly matters even before a formal application is prepared. For clients filing internationally, we coordinate PCT applications and manage national phase entry deadlines across multiple jurisdictions so nothing is missed.
We assist clients with patentability assessments and prior art searches; Canadian patent application drafting and prosecution; responding to Examiner’s Reports and office actions; PCT international filing strategy and national phase entry; foreign filing coordination through our network of international associates; maintenance and portfolio management; and patent infringement analysis and enforcement strategy.
Trademark Services
A trademark is the identifier that distinguishes your goods and services from those of your competitors. Registered trademark rights are significantly stronger than unregistered rights — and significantly easier to enforce. Early clearance searching and a sound filing strategy are the foundations of a strong trademark position.
Trademark rights in Canada can arise through registration or through use, but a registration gives a business a clean, provable right that is far easier to enforce than a claim based on reputation alone. Before filing, we conduct clearance searches to flag conflicting marks and assess registrability issues — descriptiveness, confusion with existing registrations, and similar obstacles — so a client understands the risks and options before committing to a filing strategy. Once a mark is registered, ongoing use, licensing, and enforcement all affect whether that registration remains strong over time.
We assist clients with trademark availability and clearance searches; registrability opinions; Canadian trademark application filing and prosecution; responding to Examiner’s Reports; opposition and expungement proceedings; international trademark protection through the Madrid Protocol and direct foreign filings; domain name issues; and trademark licensing and assignment.
Copyright Services
Copyright arises automatically in original literary, artistic, dramatic, and musical works, computer programs, and other protected subject matter — but registration, proper chain of title, and enforcement strategy all require attention. Many businesses significantly underestimate the copyright issues embedded in their day-to-day operations.
Software code, marketing materials, product manuals, website content, and internal documentation are all protected works the moment they are created, but ownership is not automatic — work created by a contractor or an employee outside the scope of employment can leave a business without clear title to material it depends on. We help clients identify where copyright issues are likely to arise in their operations and put the right agreements and assignments in place before a dispute forces the question.
We assist clients with copyright registration in Canada; ownership and chain of title analysis; copyright licensing and assignment; infringement analysis; and international copyright issues.
Industrial Design Services
An industrial design registration protects the visual features of a commercially produced article — its shape, configuration, pattern, or ornamentation. It is distinct from a patent, which protects function, and from a trademark, which protects source identification. For products where appearance is a competitive differentiator, design registration is worth considering.
Design registration is frequently underused relative to its value. Where two products perform an identical function, the one with a distinctive, protected appearance can carry a real competitive advantage — and design protection is often faster and less expensive to obtain than a patent. Because Canada’s grace period for industrial designs runs twelve months domestically but only six months when claiming priority abroad, the filing sequence for a product launching in multiple countries needs to be planned carefully from the outset.
We assist clients with design registrability assessments; Canadian industrial design application filing and prosecution; international design protection strategy; and design infringement analysis.
Advisory Services
Not every IP question involves a filing. Many of the most valuable conversations I have with clients are about strategy — what to protect, when to protect it, how to structure ownership, and how to maximize the return on IP investment.
An IP portfolio built up over years without periodic review often contains gaps, redundancies, or protection that no longer matches the business’s actual direction. An audit identifies what a business already holds, what it is missing, and what should be prioritized given budget and risk tolerance — work that is frequently the right starting point before any new filings are made. For businesses considering an acquisition, licensing deal, or investment round, IP due diligence answers a more specific question: does the target actually own, cleanly and completely, the IP its value depends on.
Advisory work includes IP audits and portfolio reviews; freedom to operate analysis; IP due diligence for transactions; licensing strategy and agreement review; and general IP strategy counsel. This work is available on a standalone basis or as part of an ongoing advisory relationship.