ARCHIVED — Results of CIPO’s National Client Satisfaction Survey 2008
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
CIPO plays a key role in fostering invention and innovation in Canada by promoting and administering intellectual property (IP) rights. We recognize that our clients are best served by an IP system that delivers high-quality IP rights in a timely manner. Therefore, we need to be attentive to clients so we can better understand their needs and improve our products and services.
This year, CIPO conducted its fourth biennial Client Satisfaction Survey. This document describes the main findings and a number of actions that have been or soon will be taken in response to the survey.
Overall satisfaction
A solid majority (74%) of CIPO's clients remain satisfied with the products and services offered by CIPO, although this is a 5-point decline since 2005. This overall decline in satisfaction can be partly explained by lower levels of satisfaction in the areas of communications, accessibility and turnaround times. However, satisfaction in a number of other areas, including quality of service and CIPO's payment process, has remained unchanged. Overall, 77% of respondents hold a favourable impression of CIPO.
Satisfaction with communications
A majority of direct clients are satisfied with CIPO's communications; however, there was a slight decrease of 3% from 2005 levels. Satisfaction with communications among agents decreased more significantly. In particular, the proportion of agents that were "very satisfied" dropped by 25% since 2005. While satisfaction with CIPO's communications decreased across all product lines, it remains high among copyright applicants and to a lesser extent trade-mark, patent and industrial design applicants.
Interestingly, fewer than a third of clients (32%) are satisfied with CIPO's performance in consulting with them on potential changes that could affect them. Results are consistent across product lines and applicant types. Agents (40%) are most likely to be satisfied in this area.
In response to these findings:
CIPO has introduced new guidelines for formal client consultations. Consultations on CIPO's practices have since been carried out via the CIPO website. As well, information and discussion sessions were carried out in five major Canadian cities in November and December 2008.
Satisfaction with access to IP services and with staff
The web continues to be the main point of contact across product lines and applicant types. The use of the web and email has increased as their first point of contact, while first contact by telephone has fallen by half.
As in 2005, a strong majority of clients are satisfied with the accessibility of IP services at CIPO. All product lines saw a drop in satisfaction with access to IP services, with the exception of industrial designs, which saw a sizeable increase in satisfaction.
A majority of direct clients remains satisfied with the CIPO staff that provide services. Agents are considerably more satisfied with CIPO staff than unrepresented applicants. Satisfaction with CIPO staff is highest among trade-mark, patent and industrial design applicants, while copyright applicants are slightly less satisfied.
In response to these findings:
Since the 2005 survey, CIPO has made efforts to modernize its services. Last year, a more complete industrial designs database was launched. It includes designs dating back to 1861. With respect to trade-marks, CIPO created a new online trade-mark registration system in May 2008.
We will continue to focus our efforts on improving our website.
Satisfaction with turnaround times
Overall satisfaction with the time it takes to process an IP application remained the same as in 2005. Approximately two thirds of applicants say they are satisfied; however, among agents satisfaction decreased significantly to 38% from 52% in 2005.
In response to these findings:
The Patent Branch recently acquired two digitizers and hired eight new employees for its Operations Section. This should help reduce turnaround times. Hiring staff is one of CIPO's priorities. New internal processes have also been introduced in order to speed up the processing of national PCT applications.
The Copyright and Industrial Design Branch is proud of the results for client service standards, which exceeded the turnaround targets in almost all cases.
Service delivery
A clear majority of direct clients indicate that CIPO's services have improved or stayed the same over the past 24 months. Compared to other intellectual property offices (IPOs), 71% of respondents felt that the services offered by CIPO were better than or the same as those of other IPOs.
Clients were also asked to rate their satisfaction with other IPOs they had used. Interestingly, only 42% of clients were satisfied with other IPOs. Clients who used the United States' IPO were more likely to be satisfied than those who had used the services of other IPOs.
In the same vein, a slight majority of direct clients (53%) said that CIPO was better than other government departments they had dealt with.
In response to these findings:
To provide high-quality service, we have undertaken to share our know-how with other IPOs and to study their best practices. In spring 2008, the Canadian, British and Australian IPOs formed a group, known as the Vancouver Group, for this purpose.
The Patent Branch is developing a quality management system to improve the timeliness of delivery and the quality of IP products and services. Since October 2008, clients have been able to submit international PCT patent applications electronically using PCT-Safe.
Complaints
In general, direct clients were unsatisfied with how their complaints were handled and with the timeliness in which they were handled. This sentiment is reflected in the fact that, overall, only 29% of clients were satisfied with the complaints process.
In response to these findings:
Clients' comments, positive or negative, are very important to us. Last year, a new internal process was introduced to ensure a better follow-up of the feedback. This process will be reviewed in the near future to improve the handling of complaints.
Payment process
CIPO performs well on most elements of the payment process, with two notable exceptions: timely answers to questions regarding account status, and applying refunds in a timely manner. This was also the case in 2005.
Overall, a vast majority of direct clients are satisfied with the payment process. Moreover, clients feel that the products and services CIPO provides are worth what they cost. Agents are most likely to say that CIPO's products and services are worth the cost, most notably trade-mark agents.
In addition, three-quarters of respondents agreed that the overall cost of obtaining IP protection in Canada is reasonable relative to other countries. Although a strong majority of clients overall agrees the cost is reasonable, unrepresented applicants are less likely to agree than agents. The number of agents who say the cost is reasonable has increased since 2005 and now stands at 78%.
In response to these findings:
The Patent Branch has set up a new electronic system for the payment of maintenance fees in January 2009.
CIPO as a leading IPO
In 2007, CIPO conducted a series of consultations with intellectual property agents to find out what they expect of a leading IPO. To continue this research, we added a new section to the survey. While percentages vary, the overall findings indicate that a majority of clients (represented applicants included) think that CIPO has a good reputation, is a leading IPO, and effectively advances Canada's IP interests. Moreover, the percentage of direct clients who say that CIPO is client-centred has increased since 2005. This suggests that clients are noticing improvements in CIPO's products and services.
Conclusion
Listening to our clients' opinions will help us achieve our vision of becoming a leading IPO recognized for the excellence of our IP products and services. By communicating with our clients and remaining focused on our Five-Year Strategic Plan, we will substantially improve and modernize our business processes, our service delivery mechanisms, our tools and our information technology platform.
For more information, see the detailed findings of CIPO's National Client Satisfaction Survey on the Industry Canada website.
