Canada to Finally Update Intellectual Property Legislation

Recently, the Canadian government tabled five intellectual property treaties in the House of Commons. These treaties are

1. The Madrid Protocol
2. The Hague Agreement
3. The Singapore Treaty
4. The Nice Agreement &
5. The Patent Law Treaty.

The Madrid Protocol enables trade-mark owners to obtain registered trade-mark protection more easily. They can get this facility by filing of a single application to register trade-marks in multiple countries.

The Hague Agreement enables similar protection for industrial design (design patent) owners.

The Singapore Treaty and Nice Agreement relate to administrative aspects of the trade-mark registration process. The Singapore Treaty facilitates a simpler and smoother registration process by implementing certain requirements and standards when it comes to applications.

The Patent Law Treaty harmonizes a number of formal procedures in respect of patent applications and patents, including, for example, harmonizing the requirements to obtain a filing date for an application.

Other updates include:

• A brand new Trade-marks e-Filing system will be launched in order to ensure a smooth transition to the new system.
• In order to use your CIPO Deposit Account with the new system, you must first contact the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) Finance Directorate in writing to grant access to your deposit accounts to authorized Industry Canada User(s) in your firm.
• Release of revised Chapter 14 of the MOPOP(Manual of Patent Office Practice) Unity of Invention
• Amendments to the Patent Rules Final Action procedures and Re-examination proceeding

By Akshatha Karthik

Image Courtesy of digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net