Title of invention

January 27, 2009

NOTE: This practice notice is intended to provide guidance on current Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) practice and interpretation of relevant legislation and should not be quoted as, or considered to be, a legal authority. In the event of any inconsistency between this notice and the applicable legislation, the legislation must be followed. It is the responsibility of the applicant/patentee to decide how to proceed with respect to a particular application or other matter.

By this notice the Patent Office is clarifying its position with respect to the practice of changing titles of invention in patent applications.

In accordance with paragraph 80(1)(a) of the Patent Rules, [similar to PCT Rule 5.1(a)], the description shall state the title of the invention.

In instances where the title of the invention in the description differs from the title in the Petition for Grant of a Patent (for applications other than PCT national phase applications), the Request under article 4 of the PCT or the Request for Entry into the National Phase in Canada, the Office will only have regard to the title as specified in the description.

If the applicant wishes to amend the title in the description, a new page 1 of the description must be submitted in accordance with section 34 of the Patent Rules.

It is to be noted that the Office will not issue any corrected filing certificates, corrected acknowledgements of national entry, or corrected Form RO/105 where any discrepancy exists between the title in the description and any other document.

Should an amended page 1 of the description be submitted after allowance, it must be received in the Office on or before payment of the final fee and include the fee specified in item 5 of Schedule 2. Otherwise, the application will grant and issue to patent with the title as it appears on the first page of the description.

Patentees may wish to use section 8 of the Patent Act to correct clerical errors in the title as it appears in the description if such error(s) exist. That said, errors due to discrepancies between the title in the Petition, Request under article 4 of the PCT or the Request for Entry into the National Phase in Canada which are not clerical in nature (i.e., did not arise in the mechanical process of typewriting or transcribing) will not be corrected under authority of section 8.

The practice expressed in this notice is effective immediately, and supersedes any previous practices, communicated or otherwise, related to the practice of changing titles of invention.