What's New? [ Archive ]

October to December 2008

December 22, 2008

Two-Year Extension of the Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program between CIPO and USPTO

The Canada - United States Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program commenced on January 28, 2008 and was set to expire after a trial period of one year ending on January 28, 2009. In order to adequately assess the feasibility of the PPH pilot program, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have decided to extend the trial period for an additional two years ending on January 28, 2011.

A detailed description of the pilot program is available online.

For additional information on the PPH, please contact the PPH Program Manager, at 819-956-9974 or by e-mail at pph@ic.gc.ca.

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December 22, 2008

The Patent Branch begins consultations in January on the second package of amendments to the Patent Rules

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has been holding official consultation periods to collect public feedback on several proposed amendments to the Patent Rules.

The consultations have been broken down into four separate packages. Stakeholders have been provided with between 30 to 60 days to provide comments on each package.

Consultations on the first package of amendments end January 5, 2009. The second consultation period will begin January 5, 2009, and will end on February 28, 2009.

The amendments proposed in the second package seek to safeguard applicants' rights in situations where their rights would have been expunged due to a failure to meet certain procedural requirements. The package also reduces some operational requirements by providing more flexibility as to who can pay a fee and reinstate an abandoned application. Finally, the package also waives some of the fees related to sequence listings filed electronically and reduces the prescribed delay to request examination.

For any questions regarding the consultation process, please contact the Client Service Centre at cipo.contact@ic.gc.ca, by fax at (819) 994-1989, or by regular mail to the following address:

Canadian Intellectual Property Office
Patent Branch
50 Victoria Street,
Place du Portage II
Gatineau, QC  K1A 0C9
Attention: Félix Dionne

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December 19, 2008

CIPO News Update — December 19, 2008

Get the latest IP news from this month's edition of CIPO News Updates

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December 18, 2008

Reporting on Past Consultations: Practice in Trade-mark Opposition Proceedings

CIPO published the Practice in Trade-mark Opposition Proceedings for public consultation from September 4 to October 24 2008 and received the following comments and suggestions.

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December 17, 2008

Consultation Update: Amendments to Electronic Payments Deposit Accounts Practices

We are currently considering comments received during the consultations held last summer regarding proposed amendments to electronic payments and deposit account practices. Accordingly, no changes to the current practices will be implemented on January 1, 2009.

Decisions will be made over the coming weeks and posted on this website in the New Year.

Clients will receive notification on this website of any changes prior to their implementation.

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December 17, 2008

Do you know that you can file your industrial design application online?

Save the paper and file your registration in a secure environment. Visit www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/id. If you have feedback about this online service we want to hear from you, please send your comments via email to CIPO: ID e-filing.

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December 15, 2008

Reporting on Past Consultations: Amendments to Electronic Payments Deposit Accounts Practices

In line with the consultation period held from July 31 to August 31, 2008, CIPO contacted current deposit account holders and key stakeholders to ask for their comments regarding the proposed amendments to electronic payments and deposit account practices. During this consultation period, CIPO received 23 comments, suggestions and recommendations.

View the comments submitted (PDF - 2.68 MB - 42 pages)

Important notice: Comments are in the language in which they were submitted to CIPO.

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December 15, 2008

Mid-year report on Client Service Standards

CIPO wants to provide high quality client services in a timely manner. To achieve this, we have established strong client service standards to let our clients know what they can expect, while maintaining transparency in our performance.

In the interest of providing more information to our clients, we are releasing the results of our Client Service Standards as part of our mid-term review for the current fiscal year.

In most areas, we are very proud of the progress made in surpassing the established standards. We are continuously working to obtain the best results possible. For larger gaps in performance, whether positive or negative, we have provided explanations that will help to better understand CIPO's results.

Here are some highlights from the mid-year review:

• CIPO maintained or improved 80% of the standards established for 2008-09.
• In the area of patents, although most figures show an increase in turnaround times to this point, new internal processes and the hiring of personnel will lead to improved results by the end of the fiscal year.
• The Copyright Office achieved the impressive number of 1.7 days for registering a copyright and issuing a certificate for an application that was filed electronically. This is a good indicator for clients, who have to choose a method for filing an application.
• For trade-marks, applicants receive an acknowledgment in less than 5 days. In terms of examining applications, the hiring of new examiners will contribute to reducing processing times between now and 2009.
• Our Client Service Centre has surpassed the expected outcomes.

The complete results for the current fiscal year will be available in spring 2009. Until then, we will continue to update you on improvements to our client services. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us.

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December 10, 2008

Patent Maintenance Fees Electronic Payment system

The Patent Branch is pleased to announce its new Patent Maintenance Fees Electronic Payment system will be launched on January 5, 2009.

The launch, originally scheduled for December 10, 2008, was delayed in order to address unforeseen development issues.

The new electronic system is designed to make the maintenance fee payment process more efficient and accurate for both clients and employees. Currently, clients wishing to pay maintenance fees have the option of going online to download forms to be filled out, of sending a request via CIPO general correspondence electronic service, or of preparing their own letter. Once received, Patent Branch employees process payments manually.

Some of the benefits of the new electronic payment system include the ability for clients to see which payments are coming due (which is especially important for the clients who process many applications or patents), instant payment confirmation as well as an electronic payment receipt, the ability to access their payment history, the ability to pay maintenance fees many years in advance, and the ability to transfer amounts due to another party for payment.

For more information on the Patent Maintenance Fees E-Payment system, please contact the Client Service Centre at cipo.contact@ic.gc.ca, by phone at 1-866-997-1936, by fax at (819) 994-1989, or by regular mail to the following address:

Canadian Intellectual Property Office
Client Service Centre
50 Victoria Street,
Place du Portage II
Gatineau, QC  K1A 0C9

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December 8, 2008

The Patent Branch will begin consultation in December on a proposed Practice Notice on "Title of Invention"

Over the next month, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) will be holding an official consultation period to collect public feedback on a proposed Practice Notice on "Title of Invention."

Stakeholders will be provided with one month to provide comments on the proposed Notice, beginning December 8, 2008 and ending on January 16, 2009.

For any questions regarding the consultation process, please contact the Client Service Centre at cipo.contact@ic.gc.ca, by fax at (819) 994-1989, or by regular mail to the following address:

Canadian Intellectual Property Office
Patent Branch
50 Victoria Street,
Place du Portage II
Gatineau, QC  K1A 0C9
Attention: Félix Dionne

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December 1, 2008

CIPO News Update — December 1, 2008

Get the latest IP news from this month's edition of CIPO News Updates

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November 27, 2008

The Patent Branch will begin consultation in November on amendments to the Patent Rules.

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) will, over the next several months, be holding official consultation periods to collect public feedback on several proposed amendments to the Patent Rules.

The consultation will be broken down into four separate packages. Stakeholders will be provided with between 30 to 60 days to provide comments on each package. The first consultation period will begin November 27, 2008, and will end on January 5, 2009.

The amendments proposed in the first package are generally housekeeping in nature and deal with minor legalities and procedural issues as opposed to questions of substantive policy. Those proposed changes include:

• The definition of "description";
• Establishment of the Filing Date;
• Form 3; and
• Completion requirements (Declaration of Entitlement or Assignments)

For any questions regarding the consultation process, please contact the Client Service Centre at cipo.contact@ic.gc.ca.

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November 20, 2008

Patent Agent Exams available online

The 2008 Patent Agent Exams are now available on our website. For more information, visit the 'How to become a patent agent' section of our website. The deadline to apply for the 2009 Patent Agent Examination is December 5, 2008.

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October 31, 2008

CIPO clients: information sessions on CIPO's electronic services

CIPO is committed to working with its intellectual property (IP) partners and clients to achieve a world-class IP regime that is efficient and competitive. CIPO wants to continue engaging its clients and partners by giving them the opportunity to share their views with CIPO staff before changes and improvements are made to its products and services.

From November 24 to December 8, CIPO will be holding free information sessions in five Canadian cities. These one-day sessions are for all IP professionals and their staff who use the electronic services on CIPO's website, whether to register trade-marks, pay fees online or consult various databases.

Get all the details on these sessions!

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October 22, 2008

2009 Patent Agent Examination

Under the provisions of subsection (2) of section 14 of the Patent Rules, notice is hereby given that the 2009 examination will be held on April 20, 21, 22 and 23, 2009. A person who proposes to sit for the examination must notify the Commissioner of Patents in writing, file an affidavit or statutory declaration referred to in subsection 2 of section 12 of the Patent Rules and pay the prescribed fee ($200 per paper). The deadline to apply, submit the affidavit or statutory declaration and pay the fee is December 5, 2008. When applying, it is essential to indicate which paper(s) will be written.

For more information, visit the 'How to become a patent agent' web page.

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October 6, 2008

Amended Industrial Design Regulations came into force on October 5, 2008

Amendments to the Industrial Design Regulations came into force on October 5, 2008.
The highlights are as follows:

• Increased flexibility concerning requirements on the colour, size and quality of a design application.
• More clarity with respect to illustrating the design in the drawings and photographs.
• Added flexibility related to including an article's environment in a design application.

You can view the regulations amendments by visiting the Canada Gazette website or view the questions and answers about the amendments in the Industrial Designs section of our site.

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