The new Patent Rules, coming into force on October 30, 2019, have been published in the Canada Gazette Part II. The modernization of the Patent Act and Rules allows Canada to ratify the Patent Law Treaty. Key changes relate to filing requirements, priority claims, agent representation and register, examination and amendments, corrections, abandonments/reinstatements, transfers, due care/third party rights, and divisionals. Continue reading Patent Amendments
Tag Archives: Patents
Patent Amendments
The amendments to the Patent Act and Patent Rules will come into force October 30, 2019. Orders in Council will be published in July with the amended Patent Rules and authorization to ratify the Patent Law Treaty.
Patent Consultation
CIPO has announced a consultation on changes to the Manual of Patent Office Practice (MOPOP) relating to administrative topics as part of changes to the Patent Act and Rules. Topics covered including filing requirements, divisionals, priority, transfers/assignments, corrections, abandonment/reinstatement, and due care. The consultation is open until May 27, 2019.
ISED News
Last week, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada made a couple of announcements as part of the government’s IP Strategy:
- Call to launch intellectual property collective – There is $30 million in funding over four years to create a non-profit organization to work with companies in a selected sector to help them use their IP more strategically.
- College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents – The government is seeking candidates for the first board of directors for the new regulator of patent agents and trademark agents.
Top Patentees 2018
In 2018, approximately 23,500 patents were granted by the Canadian Patent Office. Halliburton Energy Services was the top recipient of patents with over twice the patents obtained as any other applicant. The other top applicants were General Electric Company, The Boeing Company, and BlackBerry Limited. Continue reading Top Patentees 2018
Budget Bill
Bill C-86, the budget bill that implements changes to the Patent Act, the Trade-marks Act and the Copyright Act, enacts the College of Patent Agents and Trade-mark Agents Act and makes changes for IP licenses in insolvency received royal assent yesterday. Bill C-86 received minor amendments as it went through parliament.
Patent Rules
Amendments to the Patent Rules were published (link) in the Canada Gazette Part I in preparation for ratification of the Patent Law Treaty. As discussed in earlier posts, these amendments overhaul filing requirements, the timing of responses to CIPO notices and the abandonment procedures. Consultation is open for 30 days. CIPO has indicated that implementation is expected by the end of 2019.
USMCA
My latest column for Slaw has been published, on the IP changes included in the US Mexico Canada trade agreement. The agreement is supposed to be signed Friday but reports are that the countries are still in discussions. Continue reading USMCA
Budget Changes
Introduced yesterday, budget bill C-86 includes changes to the Patent Act, Trade-marks Act, Copyright Act, enacts the College of Patent Agents and Trade-mark Agents Act and makes changes for IP licenses in insolvency. Some highlights include a college to regulate agents, reform of the Copyright Board, allows patent file histories to be admissible to rebut claim constructions, add bad faith as a ground of opposition for trademarks, and adds requirements for notices under the notice-and-notice copyright regime.
Patentable Subject Matter
Amazon.com’s “one-click” patent granted after being litigated to the Federal Court of Appeal on the issue of patentable subject matter (2011 FCA 328), expired today.