Trade-Marks Examination Manual (page 3 of 55)
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II Examination of the Application as to Form
II.1 Pre-examination
The entire processing of an application from the time of filing to the time of its registration (or, alternately, refusal or abandonment) involves many different operational units of the Trade-marks Office of Industry Canada. Initially, the application arrives in the departmental mail room where it is date stamped. It then goes to the CIPO Financial Branch which is responsible for receiving and coding the appropriate fee. The application cannot be awarded a filing date until the fee is paid. See Rule 25 of the Trade-marks Regulations.
The application is transferred to the Formalities Section where it is awarded a file number. Then it is reviewed to ensure that the filing requirements have been met and, if so, awarded a filing date. This is the date of the application's arrival in the Trade-marks Office in Hull/Ottawa, in one of the district or regional offices, or in a Canada Post Office if it is sent by Priority Post. See Rule 3 of the Trademarks Regulations.
The application is then formalized and entered into the database. Next, receipt of the application is acknowledged and the mark applied for is entered in the index of pending applications. The application is then transferred to the Examination Section where it will be searched and assigned to an examiner.
II.2 Request for Early Examination
Applications are usually examined in chronological order of filing date, with some exceptions. An applicant may, in some circumstances, write to the Registrar requesting that the subject application be dealt with expeditiously.
Such advancement of an application out of its routine order creates a favoured position at the expense of all other applicants, who are delayed accordingly. Therefore, any request for expeditious processing must comprise a letter of explanation from the applicant or agent of record detailing the circumstances or reasons which would justify such consideration. Unjustified requests or those made merely in a routine manner by applicants or their agents will not be permitted. Special circumstances which would justify expedition of the examination procedure are as follows:
- The mark is in use, and it has come to the applicant's attention that there may be confusion with another mark in the marketplace.
- The application is for a proposed trade-mark, and the applicant wants to know if it could be registered before a large amount of money is spent on advertising or production costs.
II.3 Formal Requirements — Section 30
Once the application for registration of a trade-mark has been processed by the other administrative units of the Trade-marks Office, the examiners begin the initial examination. This is to ensure that all the formal requirements of the application form have been satisfied as set out in section 30 of the Trade-marks Act. See also the Trade-marks Regulations, "General". The following sections in this chapter are provided to aid in the examination of the application as to form.
II.3.1 Physical Format of Applications — Rule 13
Applications for registration shall be on white paper that measures at least 8 inches by 11 inches (21 cm by 28 cm), but not more than 8 ½ inches by 14 inches (22 cm X 35 cm), on one side only, with left and upper margins of at least 1 inch (2.5 cm).