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.
All posts by Alan Macek
PMPRB
Various amendments relating to the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board are to come into force on June 30, 2021 including amendments to sections 79 to 103 of the Patent Act. In addition there are some changes being made for consistency with the Patent Act and to encompass CSPs. This is in addition to the amended Patented Medicines Regulations expanding reporting requirements are scheduled to come into force July 1, 2021 after being delayed several times. Continue reading PMPRB
Federal Court of Appeal
The Federal Court of Appeal, in a new Practice Notice “Electronic Service of Documents for the duration of the Suspension Period”, makes electronic service by email permissible in all cases and requires email addresses be added to all documents filed with the Federal Court of Appeal, with limited exceptions, while the, now indefinite, Suspension Period is in effect.
Federal Court
The Federal Court has published revised consolidated intellectual property guidance for case management and trial management. The Court has included a blackline version which indicates that changes include limiting “second round” discovery, use of claim charts, compendia and slide decks at trial and requests to admit.
11 Million
Earlier today, the USPTO issued patent 11,000,000. Since the USPTO granted US10,000,000 about three years ago, the Canadian Patent Office issued about 64,000 patents.
CBA IP Symposium
This year’s CBA annual IP event is going virtual on May 20, 27 and 31 with events on diversity and inclusion, substantive presentations, town halls by CIPO, the Federal Court and Copyright Board and a virtual Judges’ Dinner recognizing The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin. There is still time to register. See you there!
Trademark Backlog
CIPO has published two practice notices directed to the backlog of trademarks awaiting examination:
- Requests for expedited examination – “effective immediately the Office will begin accepting requests for expedited examination of trademark applications” on the basis of court proceedings, combating counterfeit products, protect marks on online marketplaces, or to preserve claims of priority.
- Measures to improve timeliness in examination – the Office will prioritize applications with statements of goods or services selected from the pre-approved list, issue fewer examination reports prior to refusal, and will provide fewer examples of goods or services that would be acceptable in reports.
PM(NOC)
Proposed amendments to the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations have been published for consultation in the Canada Gazette to expand the definition of a “claim for medicinial ingredient” to include salts so that “the scope of protection under the Regulations corresponds to the type of activities contemplated under the proposed amendments to the [Food and Drug Regulations]”. Continue reading PM(NOC)
Federal Court of Appeal
The Federal Court of Appeal has posted an updated COVID-19 Practice Notice relating to “deteriorating situation in some jurisdictions” placing some files back in suspension and asking that materials be filed electronically.
Budget
The 2021 federal budget released today, touches on several intellectual property matters including “$90 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to create ElevateIP, a program to help accelerators and incubators provide start-ups with access to expert intellectual property services”, “$75 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, for the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program to provide high-growth client firms with access to expert intellectual property services.”, deductions for certain “digital assets and intellectual property” and “Expanding loan class eligibility to include lending against intellectual property and start-up assets and expenses”.