Canadian Intellectual Property Office appoints CEO

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Canadian Intellectual Property Office appoints CEO

Johanne Bélisle replaces Sylvain Laporte, who left in March to become president of the Canadian Space Agency

Johanne Bélisle has been appointed chief executive officer of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, effective September 8 2015.

Bélisle is assistant deputy minister, Quebec region, at Employment and Social Development Canada. Since 2007, she has been assistant deputy minister at various other departments, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Public Works and Government Services Canada.

CIPO is responsible for the administration and processing of the greater part of intellectual property in Canada.

Sylvain Laporte, the former commissioner of patents, registrar of trade marks, and chief executive officer, departed in March to become president of the Canadian Space Agency. He had held the role since April 2011.

Pierre Bélisle, who was executive director, is the acting chief executive officer.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Jinwon Chun discusses the need for vigilance, his love for iced coffee, and preparing for INTA
Karl Barnfather’s new patent practice will focus on protecting and enforcing tech innovations in the electronics, AI, and software industries
Partner Ranjini Acharya explains how her Federal Circuit debut resulted in her convincing the court to rule that machine learning technology was not patent-eligible
Paul Hastings and Smart & Biggar also won multiple awards, while Baker McKenzie picked up a significant prize
Burford Capital study finds that in-house lawyers have become more likely to monetise patents, but that their IP portfolios are still underutilised
Robert Reading and Faidon Zisis at Clarivate unpick some of the data surrounding music-related trademarks
China's latest IP litigation statistics and a high-profile hire by O'Melveny were also among the top talking points this week
David Aylen, who spent more than 20 years at Gowling WLG, has joined United Trademark and Patent Services as of counsel in the UAE
Europe is among the most lucrative legal markets for PE firms to bet on, but clients’ reactions will decide whether external investment drives success
Rulings of note covered pre-June 2023 infringements and jurisdiction over non-UPC states, while winners of Managing IP’s EMEA Awards acted in multiple cases
Gift this article