Proposed amendments to the Patent Rules are published for consultation in the Canada Gazette to address patent term adjustment and other changes to streamline prosecution. The proposed amendments include excess claim fees, limits on office actions and requests for continued examination, updating rules on sequence listings and some miscellaneous amendments.
All posts by Alan Macek
Assignor Estoppel
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court upheld but limited the doctrine of assignor estoppel for patents in Minerva Surgical Inc. v. Hologic Inc.: “When an assignor warrants that a patent claim is valid, his later denial of validity breaches norms of equitable dealing. … [But an] example of non-contradiction is when an assignment occurs before an inventor can possibly make a warranty of validity as to specific patent claims.”
College
The new College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents came into force today. The College’s website is now live with more information on the college including its bylaws and code of conduct for agents. The changes to the Patent Rules, Trademarks Regulations and implementing Regulations for the College were published last week.
PMPRB
There are reports that the government has again delayed the coming-into-force of the substantive changes to the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board guildelines by six-months. The updates had been scheduled to come into force on July 1st. Continue reading PMPRB
Federal Courts Rules
Amendments to the Federal Courts Rules have been registered based on proposed amendments published back in 2016. These amendments include (1) increases to the monetary limit for prothonotaries and for simplified actions; (2) provide for excerpts in books of authorities; (3) a timeline for filing of books of authorities in appeals; (4) condensed appeal books; (5) establishing a “Notice of Intention to Respond” and standardize the timeline for filing a defence for defendants who are served in either Canada or the United States; and (6) clarifying the material to be contained in an applicant’s record.
College
As reported in my post from last week, the College of Patent Agent and Trademark Agents will come into force on June 28. The supporting regulations were published in Canada Gazette today.
PTAB
The US Supreme Court has found that the judges of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) were improperly appointed under the U.S. constitution but fixed the issue by making PTAB determinations reviewable by the director of the USPTO (see Arthrex).
Federal Court of Appeal
The Federal Court of Appeal has issued another Practice Notice updating its COVID-19 related suspension periods including for files that were suspended in April (see earlier post) now that the “public health situation has now improved sufficiently”.
College
The new College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents is coming into force on June 28, 2021. The College will regulate patent and trademark agents, including the exams, maintenance of the register of agents and disciplinary matters. Continue reading College
PMPRB
The various amendments relating to the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board mentioned in my update earlier this week have now been published in the Canada Gazette Part 2.