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Help: Frequently Asked Questions on the Canadian Patents Database application

Table of Contents


  • What information is offered by the CIPO Canadian Patent Database?

    For patent documents that are either public inspection applications or are patents granted since August 15, 1978, the CIPO Canadian Patent Database contains bibliographic data, textual data (titles, abstracts and claims) and image data.

    For patents granted prior to August 15, 1978, the CIPO Canadian Patent Database contains bibliographic data, the text of titles only (no text of abstracts and claims) and image data.

  • I am concerned that I may reveal confidential design information with my searches. What is your policy on the management of the CIPO Canadian Patent Database access log?

    The communications between CIPO Canadian Patent Database and the users of the CIPO Canadian Patent Database site are not of a confidential nature. Therefore, any communications that you wish to remain confidential, whether they are search queries, Canadian Patent Database Feedback entries, e-mail, or any other communications, should not be relayed to the CIPO Canadian Patent Database.

  • What is a laid-open application?

    A laid-open application is an application that has been made available for public viewing but has not yet been granted.

  • What is the difference between "Last updated" and "Date modified"?

    If the date in the footer has a label of "Last updated" that date represents the last time the search index was updated (typically right after the weekly CPD database update). Pages with this label in are considered to be dynamic pages. Examples are as follows:

    1. Basic Search
    2. Search Results
    3. Details document
    4. View Image
    5. Currency of Information

    If the date has the label "Date modified", that date represents the last time that the Web page was modified. Pages with this date label are considered to be static HTML pages that will typically be updated outside the release schedule of the CPD Website application. These pages include the following:

    1. What's New
    2. Help: Content
    3. FAQ
    4. Advanced Search Examples
    5. Notices to users
    6. Service and Website interruptions
  • Why do hyperlinks change colors after I click on them?

    The hyperlinks will be shown in a different color if the user has visited the page. That way, the user will be able to keep a status on pages visited.