Consequences in Canada of public disclosure of inventions

CONSEQUENCESINCANADAOFPUBLICDISCLOSUREOFINVE
NTIONS

MICHELBÉLANGER*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKSAGENTS

That’sit!Eureka!Afteralotofhardworkininvestments,youhavefinallyfounda
solutionthatwillgiveyouacompetitiveadvantageoveryourcompetitors.Onemight
betemptedtocommunicatethegoodnews.Beware!Silenceisgolden,atleastuntil
thefilingofafirstpatentapplication.
InCanada,inordertobepatentable,aninventionmustbedescribedinapatent
applicationandsatisfyseveralcriteriadefinedinthePatentActandRules,more
specificallywithrespecttowhatisalreadypartofpublicknowledge.Aninvention
alreadyknownbythepublicwillnotbepatentable.

PublicKnowledge

Inordertobeconsideredtobealreadyknownbythepublic,aninventionmusthave
beenpubliclydisclosedinamannerthatissufficienttoallowapersonofskilledin
thearttoreproducetheinvention.ThisdisclosurecanhavetakenplaceinCanada
orelsewhereintheworld,infrontofoneorseveralpeople.Thedisclosurecanbea
communicationunderanywritten,printed,electronicororalform.Adisclosurecould
alsobeapublicuseorsaleoftheinvention.Forexample,re-engineeringofa
chemicalproduct,withoutexercisinganyinventiveexperimentation,canresultinthat
thesaleorpublicuseoftheproductconstitutesapublicdisclosure.

GracePeriod

Canadalikeafewrarecountries(forexampletheUnitedStates),issomewhat
flexiblewithrespecttotherulesonnoveltyandobviousness.Undertheserules,an
inventioncanbemadeaccessibletothepublicaslongasitismadebytheinventor
orapplicantofthepatentapplicationoranythirdpartythatreceivedinformation
directlyorotherwisefromtheinventor/applicant,duringtheyearprecedingthefiling

©CIPS,2010.*WithROBIC,LLPamultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheSummer2010Newsletterofthefirm(Vol.14,No.2).Publication068.123E.

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dateofthepatentapplicationinCanada.Onecannotrelyontheconventional
prioritydateofapreviouspatentapplicationinordertocalculatethegraceperiod.

Thefollowingscenarioillustrateshowthegraceperiodworks:
·InventorAdisclosesandsellsanewecologicalsoapforthecleaningofthe
exteriorofboatsonFebruary1,2010ataboatshowinMontréal.Itisthefirst
publicdisclosureoftheinvention.
·Followingthecommercialsuccessoftheproduct,theinventorfilesapatent
applicationintheUnitedStates(wherethemostimportantmarketforsuch
cleaningproductsislocated).
·TheUSpatentapplicationisfiledonFebruary15,2010,andthepatentagent
oftheinventorinformshimthat:
a)AlthoughtheParisConventionwouldnormallygivetheinventoruntil
February15,2011tofileaCanadianpatentapplicationandclaimpriority
oftheoriginalfilingdateofFebruary15,2010oftheUSpatent
application,thesaleofthesoaponFebruary1st,2010resultsinthatthe
finaldateforfilingaCanadianpatentapplicationisnowmovedupto
February1,2011.
b)PublicdisclosureoftheinventiononFebruary1,2010alsopreventsthe
inventorfromfilingpatentapplicationsinothercountriesthatrequire
absolutenovelty,whichisthecaseofmostindustrializedcountries.
c)Therestillremainsapossibilityoffilingthepatentapplicationincertain
countrieswhich,likeCanadaandtheUnitedStates,haveagraceperiod
betweenthepublicdisclosureofaninventionbytheinventorandthe
filingdateofthepatentapplication.

Consequences

Canada:
ThefilingofapatentapplicationinCanadaaftertheone-year(1)graceperiodwill
constitutealegalreasonforinvalidatinganypatentapplicationmadeafterthatdate.

Canadafunctionsasafirst-to-filecountry.Therefore,ifintheprecedingexample,a
visitorattheboatshowfilesbeforeinventorAinhisownnameapatentapplication
inCanadarelatedtothesoap,thisotherpatentapplicationcanbecitedagainstthe
patentapplicationfiledbyinventorAwithintheone-yeargraceperiod.Insucha
situation,inventorAwouldhavetoincurcostlylegalproceedingsinordertocorrect
thesituationinordertoobtainhispatent.
OtherCountries:
Alargemajorityofindustrializedcountriesapplyrigorouslyan”absolutenovelty”
criteriaintheevaluationofpatentapplications.Consequently,anypublicdisclosure
oftheinventionpriortothefilingofapatentapplicationisareasonforinvalidationof
thepatent.VeryfewcountrieshaveagraceperiodasisthecaseinCanada.

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Conclusion

Beforeliftingtheveilofsecrecysurroundinganinvention,itisimportanttoevaluate
andtoplanthefilingofpatentapplicationsthatwillhavetobecompletedinorderto
avoidinvoluntaryandirremediablylossofpatentrights.

Aqualifiedpatentagentcanhelpyouprepareandcoordinatesuchpatentfilings.

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