Patent Law Treaty is coming to Canada

1
REDUCEDREQUIREMENTSFOROBTAINING
AFILINGDATE
OneofthemainobjectivesofthePLTistoloosentherequire-
mentsforobtainingafilingdate.InCanada,thismeans
thatthepaymentofthefilingfeeandtheappointmentof
anagentarenolongerrequired.Assuch,anApplicantcan
obtainafilingdateaslongastheCommissionerreceives:
(1)anexplicitorimplicitindicationthatthegrantingofa
Canadianpatentissought;(2)informationallowingthe
identityoftheApplicanttobeestablished;(3)information
permittingtheCommissionertocontacttheApplicant,and
(4)adocumentinanylanguage.Itwillalsobepossible
toperformareferencefilingbyprovidingthecountryand
numberofthepreviouslyfiledapplicationtotheCommis-
sionerifthefulldocumentissubmittedwithintwomonths
fromthedateofanoticetothateffect.
ItisnolongerrequiredtohaveadocumentinFrenchor
inEnglishtoobtainafilingdate,thetranslationofthe
documentbeingrequiredwithintwomonthsfromthedate
ofanoticesentbytheCommissioner.AlthoughApplicants
cannowdirectlyfileanapplicationinCanada,theCommis-
sionerwillsendanoticerequiringtheappointmentofan
agent.Forexample,whentheApplicantisacorporate
entity,thisnoticewillprovideaperiodofthreemonthsto
appointanagent.SinceitistheApplicantthatwillreceive
thenotice,andinordertoavoiddelaysintheprocessing
ofthisrequest,werecommendthatApplicantscontinue
toretaintheservicesofaregisteredagentwhenfilingan
application.
2
RESTORATION
OFPRIORITY
PreviouslyunavailableinCanada,itwillnowbepossibleto
restorepriorityforanapplicationfiledoutsideofthetwelve-
monthpriorityperiodprovidedundertheParisConvention,
aslongastherequestismadewithintwomonthsofthe
filingoftheapplicationinCanada,andaslongastheappli-
cationinCanadaisfilednolaterthanfourteenmonthsafter
thepriorityfiling.Inthecaseofanationalphaseentryof
aninternationalapplication,therequestforrestoration
ofprioritymustbefiledwithinonemonthofthedateof
nationalphaseentry.
3
REDUCED
DEADLINES
Inordertoacceleratetheprosecutionofapplicationsin
Canada,thedeadlineforrequestingexaminationwillbe
reducedfromfivetofouryearscalculatedfromthefiling
date.Inaddition,thedeadlineforrespondingtoanoffice
actionwillbereducedfromsixtofourmonths.Itwillnow
bepossibletorequestatwo-monthextensionoftime,as
longastherequestismade,andthefeepaidbeforethe
expirationofthedeadline.Asaresultofarequestforan
extensionoftime,theacceleratedstatusoftheapplication
willberemoved.
4
NOTICEOFALLOWANCE
PRACTICE
Currently,ifanApplicantwantstosubmitadditional
claimsaftertheissuanceofanoticeofallowance,itwas
necessarytoallowtheapplicationtogoabandonedand
subsequentlyrequestthatitbereinstatedbysubmittinga
voluntaryamendmentfornewclaims.UnderthenewRules,
itwillbepossibletorequestthewithdrawalofthenotice
ofallowanceandpresentthenewclaimswithouttheappli-
cationbeingconsideredabandoned.
5
ABANDONMENTAND
REINSTATEMENT
Underthecurrentregime,itispossibletoreinstatean
abandonedapplicationbymakingarequesttoreinstate,
payingthefeeandresolvingtheactionthatledtothe
abandonmentwithintwelvemonthsfromthedateonwhich
theapplicationbecomesabandoned.Thenewregime
appearstobemoregenerousthanthecurrentregimein
thatanapplicationwillbeconsideredabandonedonly
afterhavingbeennotifiedofadefect.Insomecases,
thisnoticecanbesentuptosixmonthsafteraduedate.
Itwillbepossibletoreinstatetheapplicationwithina
periodof12monthsfromtheabandonmentbypayinga
reinstatementfeeandcorrectingthedefect.Certaintypes
ofabandonment,particularlythoserelatedtomaintenance
feesandthefilingoftherequestforexaminationwillcarry
theadditionalrequirementofduecaretobedemonstrated.
Thereisnodefinitionofwhatconstitutesduecare,norhas
thegovernmentclarifiedthestandardtobemet.Itwillbe
uptotheCourtstodefinethisexpression.Wetherefore
recommendthatanyapplicationbereinstatedquickly,in
ordertoavoidhavingtodemonstrateduecare.Thisregime
appliestoresponsestoofficeactions,filingtherequestfor
examinationandpayingamaintenancefee,amongothers.
6
THIRD-PARTY
RIGHTS
Inviewofthenewabandonmentandreinstatementregime,
andgiventheuncertaintyintroducedbyalongerperiod
withinwhichreinstatementcanberequested,Canadanow
providesaperiodwhereactscommittedbyathirdparty
willnotbesanctionableiftheyarecommittedwithinthe
periodofsixmonthsfromtheabandonmentoftheappli-
cationorpatentandrunninguntiltheapplicationorpatent
isreinstated.
ThenewRulesaretoapplytoallapplicationsasofthedate
ofcomingintoforce(CIF),subjecttotransitionalprovisions.
ForapplicationshavingafilingdatebeforetheCIFdate,
theformerdeadlineoffive-yearstorequestexamination
willcontinuetoapply.LateentryofaPCTnationalphase
applicationinCanadawillalsoremainpossibleupto
forty-twomonthswithouthavingtofileastatementthat
thedelayinenteringnationalphasewasunintentionalif
thefilingdateofthePCTapplicationisbeforetheCIFdate.
CanadawillimplementprovisionsrelatedtotheratificationofthePatentLawTreaty(the“PLT”)onOctober30,2019.
ThePLT,originallyadoptedin2000,nowencompassesover41contractingstates,includingtheUnitedStatesandmost
Europeancountries.TheaimofthePLTistoharmonizeandstreamlineformalprocedureswithrespecttonationaland
regionalpatentapplications.Inaddition,applicationscannotgoabandon
edunlesstheCommissionerhasinformedthe
ApplicantoftheabandonmentandprovidedtheApplicantwithanopportunitytocorrectthedefect.
TheCanadiangovernmenthastakentheopportunitytocompletelyrevamptheRulesunderthePatentActwhen
preparingtheregulationsrequiredtofullyimplementthePLT.Theimportantchangesarehighlightedbelow.
PATENTLAWTREATY
ISCOMINGTOCANADA–
WHATDOESITMEAN
FORYOU?
Formoreinformation:plt@robic.com