Important Notice: Relief for Dutch Industries Sufferers

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IMPORTANTNOTICE:RELIEFFORDUTCHINDUSTRIESSUFFERERS

IsabelleGirardandDanielSmith*
LEGERROBICRICHARD
,L.L.P.
Lawyers,PatentandTrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.(514)9876242–Fax(514)8457874
www.robic.ca–info@robic.com

InthewakeoftheMarch7,2003FederalCourtofAppeal’sdecisioninthe
caseofDutchIndustriesLtd.v.TheCommissionerofPatents,BartonNo-Till
DiskInc.andFlexi-CoilLtd.,[2003]4F.C.67(commonlyknownasthe“Dutch
Industries”case),patentpractitionersandpatentholdersalikewereleftto
grapplewithwhatappearedtobequiteanominousprecedent,which
couldhaveledtotheinvalidationofnumerouspatentsandpatent
applicationsonatechnicality.BillC-29,whichcameintoforceonFebruary1,
2006,providesatime-limitedwindowtorepairpatentsaffectedbytheDutch
Industriesdecision.
Theproblem
InCanada,areductioninofficialfeestobepaidtotheCanadian
IntellectualPropertyOfficethroughthelifeofapatentisofferedtoowners
whoqualifyasa“SmallEntity”,thatis,acompanyhavinglessthan50
employeesoraUniversity.
InDutchIndustries,theCourtruledthatentitysizeisdeterminedonlyonce,
whenthepatentapplicationprocessisfirstengaged,anddoesnotchange
regardlessofsubsequentgrowthorreductionintheactualsizeoftheentity,
orofachangeinownershipofthepatentorpatentapplication.Thatisto
say,anapplicantorownerqualifyingasaSmallEntityatthetimeoffiling
continuestopaysubsequentfeesaccordingtotherateapplicabletoa
SmallEntity,fortheentirelifeofthepatent.
Ifitwerejustthatthisrulingcontradictedtheprevailingwisdomthatasan
entitychangedsize,sodotherequiredfees,thenfurtherdiscussionmightnot
bewarranted.However,theDutchIndustriescasehasfurtherestablished




























































©CIPS,2006.
*OfLEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.,amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentand
trademarkagents.PublishedintheWinter2006issue(Vol.10,No.1)issueofourNewsletter.
Publication068.071E.

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thattheCanadianIntellectualPropertyOfficelackedthelegalauthorityto
acceptanyso-called“top-up”paymentswhichweremadetocorrect
paymentsmistakenlymadeundertheSmallEntityrate,and,inaddition,that
thefailuretopaysufficientfeesisconsideredanon-paymentofthosefees,
whetherbydeliberatemisconductorinnocentmistake,andcanresultinthe
irreversiblelapse
ofapatentorpatentapplication.
Theremedy
BillC-29,whichreceivedRoyalAssentonMay5,2005andwhichcameinto
forceonFebruary1,2006,willamendtheCanadianPatentActby
introducingthereinnewsection78.6,whichwillmakeitpossibletorectify
pasterrorsmadeinthepaymentofofficialfeestotheCanadianPatent
Office.Accordingtothissection,foraperiodstartingFebruary1,2006and
endingFebruary1,2007,correctivepaymentswillbeacceptedforeach
pastinstancewhereaSmallEntityfeewasmistakenlypaidinsteadofthe
requiredfeeapplicabletoanyentityotherthanaSmallEntity.
Thecomingintoforceofthesectionprovidesauniqueopportunitytocorrect
anysituationwhereapatentorpatentapplicationisvulnerableto
invalidationasaconsequenceofthedecisionoftheFederalCourtof
AppealintheDutchIndustriescase.
Inviewofwhatappearstobe,forthemoment,aone-time-onlyoffer,itis
importantforpatentholderstoreviewtheirportfoliosandensurethatshould
correctivepaymentsberequired,theyaremadebeforeFebruary1,2007.In
thisrespect,theCanadianIntellectualPropertyOfficehastakencertain
initiativesinordertoassistintheimplementationofBillC-29.
Firstly,thefeepaymenthistoryofapatentorpublishedpatentapplicationis
nowavailableonlineatthewebsiteoftheCanadianPatentDatabase.
Secondly,theCanadianIntellectualPropertyOfficehasalreadybeguna
mass-mailingcampaignregardingimplementationofBillC-29.Theownersof
patentsandpatentapplicationsforwhichatleastonefeehasbeenpaid
accordingtoSmallEntityratesarebeingnotifiedofthesituationandinvited
toreviewtheirpatentportfoliotoidentifycaseswherecorrectivepayments
maybeneeded.

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