Practice Notice: Registrar May Receive Electronic Correspondence, Publication Date: 1999-07-21

Registrar May Receive Electronic Correspondence

Publication Date: 1999-07-21

This notice is intended to provide details on the recent amendments to the Trade-marks Regulations (1996) which came into force June 23, 1999 that allow the Registrar of Trade-marks to accept electronic correspondence.

Subsections 3(6) to (9) of the Trade-marks Regulations (1996) provide the basis on which documents may be sent to the Registrar electronically and the day on which such documents are considered to be received by the Registrar:

3(6) Correspondence addressed to the Registrar may be sent at any time by electronic or other means of transmission specified in the Journal.

3(7) For the purposes of subsection (6), where, according to the local time of the place where the Office of the Registrar of Trade-marks is located, the correspondence is delivered on a day when the Office is open for business, it shall be considered to be received by the Registrar on that day.

3(8) For the purposes of subsection (6), where, according to the local time of the place where the Office of the Registrar of Trade-marks is located, the correspondence is delivered on a day when the Office is closed for business, it shall be considered to be received by the Registrar on the day when the Office is next open for business.

3(9) Subsection (6) does not apply to the following:

evidence submitted pursuant to subsection 11.13(5) of the Act;
evidence submitted pursuant to subsection 38(7) of the Act; and
an affidavit or a statutory declaration furnished pursuant to subsection 45(1) of the Act.

Effective July 21, 1999, there are two (2) transmission methods available to trade-mark applicants and their agents for sending documents electronically to the Registrar:

1. Facsimile

In accordance with subsection 3(6) of the Trade-marks Regulations (1996), correspondence intended for the Registrar may be transmitted by facsimile to the numbers indicated below. Such correspondence will be considered to be received by the Registrar on the day that it is transmitted if received before midnight, local time at the Trade-marks Office in Gatineau. When the Trade-marks Office is closed for business, correspondence received by facsimile on that day will be considered to be received on the next working day.

When a trade-mark application is filed by fax, the official Office acknowledgment notice will follow by mail in due course.

The faxed document constitutes the original, therefore a duplicate paper copy should not be forwarded.

The Trade-marks Office facsimile numbers are:

(819) 953-CIPO (2476) or
(819) 953-OPIC (6742)

When submitting a document through fax that also has a fee requirement, notification of the preferred mode of payment to be applied is essential. This information must be prominently displayed on the covering letter to ensure expedient processing. For questions regarding payments, please consult the page How to make a payment.

All other inquiries should be forwarded to

CIPO Information Branch

Phone:: 819-997-1936
Fax:: 819-953-CIPO (2476), 819-953-OPIC (6742)
Email:: cipo.contact@ic.gc.ca

2. Trade-marks Office online electronic filing system

In accordance with subsection 3(6) of the Trade-marks Regulations (1996), the filing of a new trade-mark application intended for the Registrar may be completed online and submitted electronically via the CIPO web site. Such applications will be considered to be received by the Registrar on the day that it is submitted if received before midnight, local time at the Trade-marks Office in Gatineau. When the Trade-marks Office is closed for business, applications submitted electronically on that day will be considered to be received on the next working day.

The electronic message returned to you following your electronic submission will constitute notification that the Office has in fact received the application electronically. The official Office acknowledgement notice will follow in due course.

The online filing of an application by electronic submission constitutes the original, therefore a duplicate paper copy should not be forwarded.

To enclose the prescribed filing fee when filing an application online, the method of payment is by Deposit Account with a replenishment option. For questions regarding payments, please consult the page How to make a payment.