CIPO

CIPO has announced that maintenance activities will make several online applications inaccessible for portions of Sunday October 2nd and Monday October 3rd including the General Correspondence application for patents, National Entry Request (NER) Online Solution, Patent Maintenance Fee Electronic Service, Patent E-filing, Industrial Design General Correspondence  and Copyright General Correspondence. Patent Rule amendments come into force on October 3rd, including excess claim fees and requests for continued examination, that apply to applications where the request for examination is filed on or after October 3rd.

Patentable Subject Matter

As reported yesterday, the government/CIPO has appealed the decision of Benjamin Moore v. AGC, 2022 FC 923 regarding the proper test to determine whether a patent application is directed to computer-implemented patentable subject matter. The Notice of Appeal (pdf) states in part, “The Judge erred by ordering the Commissioner to apply the New Test because it contradicts binding jurisprudence of the Federal Court of Appeal in [Amazon] and [Schlumberger].”

Queen

With the Queen’s passing, both the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal have issued practice notices today stating:

Henceforth, where the Crown is a party to a proceeding, parties should designate “His Majesty the King” rather than “Her Majesty the Queen”. With respect to pending matters, the designation will be considered to have been so altered without the need to bring a motion to amend the style of cause.

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Online Federal Court documents

The Federal Court has announced a pilot project for online access to court records. For new proceedings in some areas of law, including intellectual property, started on or after September 12, 2022, e-filed pleadings and written arguments, as well as directions/orders will be available online through the docket listings. There will be a 3-day delay before they are available online and materials subject to a confidentiality order will not be available online. Documents can also be obtained through the Court’s Registry.

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