Patents : Duty of candor in Canada?

2010-01-01

PATENTS:DUTYOFCANDORINCANADA?

ERIKAPAAPE*
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AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKSAGENTS
DuringprosecutionofapatentapplicationinCanada,communicationswiththe
Examinermustbedoneingoodfaith.InthecaseofLundbeckv.Ratiopharm(2009
FC1102),publishedonNovember23,2009,notrespectingthisdutygavethe
FederalCourtreasontoinvalidateapatent.ThejudgmentoftheCourtisrelatedtoa
patentclaimingacombinationoftwopharmaceuticalcompoundsusedintreatment
ofAlzheimer’sdisease.TheExaminerrejectedthecombinationofthetwo
compoundsasbeingobvious,sincetheuseofthesetwocompounds,whentaken
separately,waswellknown.Inresponsetothisrejection,theApplicantpresented
fourtechnicalpapers,inwhichsimilarcombinationshadtheeffectofreducingthe
effectivenessofoneofthecompounds.ThearticlespresentedbytheApplicant
wereaccompaniedbydeclarationsfromtheApplicanttotheExaminerthattheprior
artclearlytaughtavoidingtheclaimedcombinationandthatthepriorartasawhole,
wouldnothavemotivatedapersonskilledinthearttocombinethetwocompounds
fortreatmentofthedisease.
Priortothisexchange,theExaminerhadalsoaskedthatpriorartcitedin
correspondingforeignpatentapplicationsbealsobroughttohisattention.Not
havinganycorrespondingforeignapplications,theApplicantsubmitted,inresponse
tothisfirstOfficeAction,anInternationalSearchReport.Thisreportcontaineda
technicalpaper(theWenkpaper)givingsomehypothesesontheuseoftheclaimed
combination.ThisWenkpaperwasnotmentionedtotheExaminerintheresponse
tothesecondOfficeAction.
Section73(1)(a)ofthePatentActmentionsthat”anapplicationforapatentin
CanadashallbedeemedtobeabandonediftheApplicantdoesnot[…]replyin
goodfaithtoanyrequisitionmadebyanExaminerinconnectionwithan
examination[…](ouremphasisadded)”.
TheFederalCourtpointedoutthattheApplicant’sstatement,accordingtowhichthe
priorartasawholewouldnothavemotivatedthepersonskilledintheartto
combinethetwocompoundswasfalseastheWenkpaperwaspartofthispriorart.
Moreover,theCourtconcludedthatthedeclarationstatingthatthepriorartclearly
taughttoavoidtheclaimedcompounddidnotofferanimpartialpresentationofthe
priorart.AccordingtotheCourt,theWenkpaperwasanimportantreferencetobe
includedintheanalysisofobviousnessoftheinvention,asopposedtotheother

©CIPS,2010.*WithROBIC,LLPamultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheWinter2009Newsletterofthefirm(Vol.13,No.4).Publication068.116E.

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fourarticlesthattheApplicantpreferredtopointouttotheExaminer.TheCourt
concludedthattheApplicant’sresponsedidnotrepresentacomplete,honestand
impartialdisclosure.
TheCourtthenconcludedthattheallegationofabandonmentinviewofsection
73(1)(a)ofthePatentActwasjustifiedandthat,eveniftheCourtdidnotconsider
thattheclaimsofthepatentwereanticipatedorobviousinviewoftheWenkpaper.
ThefactthatthispaperwasprovidedinanswertothefirstOfficeActionwasnot
sufficienttoshowthattheApplicantmetitsobligationofgoodfaithundersection
73(1)(a),giventhecontradictorydeclarationmadebytheApplicantinthesecond
response.
TheLundbeckcasehighlightsthatduringprosecutionofapatentapplicationin
Canada,theApplicantandthepatentagentonfilehaveanobligationtoaddressthe
priorartinacomplete,honestandimpartialmannerduringcorrespondencewiththe
PatentOffice.Onemustbeprudentnotonlywhenanalyzingthescopeoftheprior
art,butalsointhemannerofqualifyingthatpriorart,whileavoiding,asmuchas
possible,overlybroaddeclarations.

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