The federal government should protect new technologies and inventions being developed by Canadian companies using trade secrecy methods.Chris Young/The Canadian Press

Matt Malone is an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and the director of the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic.

David Durand is a lawyer, co-founder of Minimum Viable Intellectual Property (MVIP) and president of the International Intellectual Property Forum – Quebec (FORPIQ).

Most people seem to recognize that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trade negotiation team needs the latitude of some secrecy to conduct effective trade negotiations. Laying out the country’s trade playbook and tactics might cost our negotiators a competitive edge.

So, most Canadians are willing to trust a recently elected government to look after the country’s best interests by operating in a zone of confidentiality.

The federal government should extend the same courtesy to innovators and builders working to advance Canada’s economic security and prosperity.

Protecting their nascent technologies and inventions using trade secrecy can help those companies develop technology and scale. This is especially true for smaller companies without the resources to invest in expensive IP protection.

Canada’s innovation policies need overhaul to boost economy, experts say

To give Canadian innovators such advantage, clear federal legal protections for trade secrets would go a long way. Companies relying on trade-secrets law to safeguard their crown jewels could use codified law with clearly defined standards for protection, remedies for misappropriation, and exceptions for good-faith disclosure.

A federal trade-secrets law would harmonize Canadian law by providing a national standard for businesses – moving past the uncertainty that

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