How your Industrial Design Application is Processed

The Industrial Design Office will process your application according to the steps outlined below, which include details about when you will be notified of the status of your application, and any associated fees.

Please contact us if you wish to have general information on industrial designs, to find out the status of your application, or if you need more information about filing an application.

Note: A large number of applicants seeking Industrial Design protection are represented by a registered patent agent. When an agent has been appointed, the Industrial Design Office will address all correspondence to that agent. Enquiries concerning the various phases of prosecution should, therefore, be directed to the appointed agent.

Note: The following is an overview of how an industrial design application is processed, including approximate timelines. To read our service commitment to clients, see CIPO's Client Service Standards.

Steps

Main processes:

• Formalities
• Examination
• Registration
• Maintenance

Other processes:

• Abandonment and reinstatement
• Extension of time to respond to an examiners report
• Accelerated Exam
• Delay of registration
• Assignment

Main Processes

Formalities

Once an application is filed, and all filing requirements have been met, an application number is assigned and the application information and filing date is recorded. Once the prescribed fees (item 1 of the Tariff of Fees) have been paid, your application will then proceed to examination.

Examination

Once classified according to the Canadian Industrial Design Classification Standard (PDF - 530 KB - 97 pages)^*, the application is reviewed for conformity with the Industrial Design Act and Regulations and a search of registered designs and published art is conducted to ensure your design is original. Once all of the requirements are met and the design is deemed to be original, your application will be allowed, and your design will be registered. If your application is not in an allowable state, the examiner will notify you of the objections. You will have opportunities to respond by making the required amendments or by submitting arguments. If your arguments fail to overcome the objections, your application will be refused and the examiner will issue a final report.
Note: No further action is taken after the final report is issued. You may request a review by the Patent Appeal Board. If your appeal is rejected, you may make an appeal to the Federal Court.

Registration

Following allowance, your design is registered.
Note: The term of protection is ten (10) years upon payment of the maintenance fee (items 2 and 3 of the Tariff of Fees) before the expiry of the five (5) years, beginning on the date of registration.

Maintenance

If the fee is paid within the prescribed time limit, the registration is maintained for the remainder of the ten (10) year period.
Note: The fee (item 2 of the Tariff of Fees) is payable within five (5) years of the registration date. Late payments received within the six (6) months following the five (5) year period must also include an additional fee (Item 3 of the Tariff of Fees).

Other Processes

Abandonment and Reinstatement

If you do not respond to a report by the specified date for reply, your application shall be considered abandoned the following day. In order to reinstate the application, the following requirements must be met:

• Prescribed fee (item 10 of the Tariff of Fees)
• A written request to reinstate
• A response to the outstanding report.

Extension of time to respond to a report

Upon receipt of a request for an extension of time to reply to an examiner's report, the Office will generally grant one (1) extension of time of six (6) months. No requests for any further extensions of time will generally be considered. (for further information, see the Practice Notice entitiled Extensions of Time: Reply to an Examiners Report.

Accelerated examination

Upon receipt of the prescribed fee (Item 4 of the Tariff of Fees) and a written request, your application will proceed on an accelerated basis. (Note: An application can be registered no earlier than six months after the Canadian filing date due to priority obligations under the Paris Convention).

Delay of registration

Upon receipt of a written request and the prescribed fee (Item 9 of the Tariff of Fees), a delay of six (6) months from the date of receipt of the request will be automatically granted.

Assignment

Upon receipt of the prescribed fee (Item 4 of the Tariff of Fees), and the assignment document, the assignment is recorded.

^* You can also find ID classification codes by performing an advanced search in the Canadian Industrial Designs Database.