Trade-Marks Examination Manual (page 54 of 55)
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V.20 Time Extensions — Subsections 47(1) and (2)
Section 47 of the Act provides for time extensions under certain circumstances and at the discretion of the Registrar. A request for an extension under the provisions of subsection 47(1) may be made to the Registrar at any time before the deadline specified on the action.
The file will be reviewed and, if it is judged that the applicant's request is justified, the extension will be granted. If the deadline for responding to the action has passed, the applicant may similarly request an extension under the provisions of subsection 47(2) as long as such request is made before the file is stamped "abandoned" and if the applicant satisfies the Registrar that the failure to respond was not reasonably avoidable.
V.20.1 Time Extensions — Office Action and Section 36
A notice is added to each examiner's report stating that a full response is due within four months in order to avoid abandonment proceedings.
The Act does not fix time limits to reply to Office actions and to section 36 default notices and they do not fall under section 47. Therefore, no penalty fee is payable when an application is made after the expiry of one of these time limits. However, it is expected that requests for extensions will be made prior to expiry of the time limit involved unless there are strong extenuating circumstances.
The applicant's success in being granted the extension will depend on the applicant being able to clearly show that certain circumstances made it impossible to respond within the time set by the Registrar in the section 36 notice.
V.21 Effect of Abandoned Trade-mark Applications
While searching the index of abandoned trade-marks, examiners may come across some which could be confusing with pending applications. The examiners may consult the index for information of various sorts, but must remember that the abandoned applications are without status in the Trademarks Office. They are therefore irrelevant with respect to entitlement to registration between rival applicants.