CIPO has published a practice notice with new guidance on purposive construction and subject-matter for examining patents directed to computer-implemented inventions, medical diagnostic methods and medical use claims.

The practice notice, “March 2026 Practice Notice on Patentable Subject-Matter under the Patent Act“, is said to incorporate guidance from the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal in

• Canada (Attorney General) v. Benjamin Moore & Co., 2023 FCA 168
• Dusome v. Canada (Attorney General), 2025 FC 1809
• Pharmascience Inc. v. Janssen Inc., 2024 FCA 23 (appeal currently under reserve at the Supreme Court of Canada)