In Matco Tools Corporation v Canada (Attorney General), 2025 FC 118 (Matco Tools), the Federal Court found that a decision by the Commissioner of Patents to refuse to reinstate a patent application following the failure to...more
2/7/2025
/ Abandonment ,
Appeals ,
Canada ,
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Due Care ,
Federal Court Litigation ,
Fees ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Patent Act ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents
2024 was an active year in Canadian patent law, with the Federal Court issuing several decisions on the merits regarding invalidity and/or infringement. The courts also considered issues of the regulation of patent agents,...more
1/24/2025
/ Canada ,
Claim Construction ,
Indefiniteness ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Term Adjustment ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents
On January 1, 2025, Canada will implement a patent term adjustment (PTA) system to account for unreasonable delays by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) in issuing a patent. The final regulations were published...more
12/20/2024
/ Canada ,
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deferred Action ,
Fees ,
Final Rules ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Examinations ,
Patent Term Adjustment ,
Patents ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
As explained in our previous article, Canada will soon be implementing a patent term adjustment (PTA) system to account for unreasonable delays by the Patent Office in issuing a patent. The necessary amendments to the Patent...more
In our annual review of developments in Canadian patent law, we considered over 60 patent decisions reported last year. This article highlights statutory changes and a selection of interesting points addressed in the reported...more
It has been four years since amendments to the Patent Act and Patent Rules were made, bringing the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) into force in Canada. The most consequential changes have proven to be the handling of missed...more
12/8/2023
/ Canada ,
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Due Care ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
New Rules ,
Patent Act ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Cooperation Treaty ,
Patent Filings ,
Patents ,
Reinstatement
Earlier this year, the Canadian Patent Office announced that it will increase its official fees on January 1, 2024, in some cases by as much as 36%. As a cost-saving measure, applicants and patentees may wish to pay...more
Amendments to the Patent Rules were published on June 21, 2023, revising the tariff of fees payable to the Canadian Patent Office, and broadening the small entity definition. The changes take effect on January 1, 2024....more
Bill C-47, “An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023,” aka “Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1” is an omnibus bill that includes proposed amendments to the Patent Act to...more
Bill C-47, entitled “An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023,” had its first reading in the House of Commons on April 20, 2023. This omnibus bill includes proposed...more
2022 was an active year in Canadian patent law. Claim fees were introduced for the first time; changes were made to regulations providing remedies for excessive pricing of patented medicines; and a range of court decisions...more
1/16/2023
/ Appeals ,
Canada ,
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Canadian Patent Office ,
Claim Construction ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
WIPO
Canada recently introduced patent rules related to excess claim fees and continued examination fees that have the potential to complicate conventional approaches to filing divisional patent applications....more
Historically, claim fees have not been payable at any time during the pendency of a Canadian patent application or term of the patent. This changed on October 3, 2022, and the present article discusses strategies for...more
Historically, claim fees have not been payable at any time during the pendency of a Canadian patent application or term of the patent. This will change soon, and the present article discusses strategies for minimizing claim...more
Rules amending the Patent Rules1 were registered on June 2, 2022 and will largely come into force on October 3, 2022. The rules introduce claim fees and a continued examination scheme to Canadian patent practice and are...more
2021 saw changes in Canadian patent legislation, and a variety of court decisions addressing rarely interpreted provisions of the Patent Act, early consideration of recently enacted provisions, and new takes on central tenets...more
1/28/2022
/ Canada ,
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventive Concept Test ,
Life Sciences ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Act ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Privileged Communication ,
Trademarks
Consider requesting examination of your Canadian patent applications now to avoid potential fees - Last summer, the Government of Canada issued draft regulations introducing claim fees and a continued examination scheme for...more
The importance of medical diagnostic technologies has been brought to the fore with the COVID-19 pandemic. Rarely does a day pass when the media does not report on matters of approval and availability of tests, testing...more
The extensive amendments to the Patent Act and Patent Rules that came into force on October 30, 2019 have complicated the practice for responding to an Office Action (i.e. an “Examiner’s Report”) issued by the Canadian Patent...more
As we have reported previously, substantial amendments to the Canadian Patent Act and new Patent Rules came into force on October 30, 2019...more
We recently reported that, in view of the ongoing COVID-19 disruption, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has further extended patent, trademark, and industrial design deadlines until Monday August 24, 2020, and...more
8/20/2020
/ Canada ,
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court Schedules ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Time Extensions ,
Trademarks
In view of the ongoing COVID-19 disruption, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has further extended patent, trademark, and industrial design deadlines fixed under the relevant legislation. Deadlines through...more
In view of the ongoing COVID-19 disruption, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has further extended patent, trademark, and industrial design deadlines fixed under the relevant legislation....more
Spanning 5525 miles, the United States-Canada border is the longest border between any two countries. U.S. goods and services trade with Canada totaled an estimated $718.5 billion in 2018, possibly the largest bilateral trade...more
7/17/2020
/ Biologics ,
Canada ,
Certificates of Supplementary Protection (CSPs) ,
Data Protection ,
Double Patent ,
Fair Trade Agreements (FTA) ,
Food and Drug Act ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) ,
PMNOC Regulations ,
Treatment Method Patents ,
United States
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has launched a pilot program to provide accelerated examination of Canadian patent applications concerning medical technology related to COVID-19 and for which Health Canada...more
7/14/2020
/ Accelerated Examination Program ,
Canada ,
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eligibility Determination ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Health Canada ,
Local Patent Rules ,
Medical Devices ,
Medical Research ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Vaccinations