In recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Saturday September 30th, the Federal Court will only hear urgent motions on Monday October 2. The court issued a Notice to the Parties and the Profession noting that, “due to the current wording of the amendments to the Interpretation Act and the definition of holiday in section 2 of the Federal Court Rules, the Federal Court Registry will still be open for filing on Monday, October 2, 2023, via drop-box and E-filing only” and “Litigants are reminded to include Monday, October 2, 2023, in their computation of time.” October 2nd is generally considered a holiday at CIPO.
All posts by Alan Macek
Appointment
Phuong T.V. Ngo, a partner at Gowling WLG in Ottawa was appointed today as a Judge of the Federal Court. Continue reading Appointment
Appointments
Negar Azmudeh, Assistant Deputy Chairperson at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. Appointments were also made yesterday to the courts in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nunavut.
Due Care
CIPO has shared a “Due Care Observations” notice that says that many requests for reinstatement on the basis of due care i) do not address the ‘relevant point in time’, ii) refer to ‘unintentionality’ rather than ‘due care’, iii) do not address that ‘all authorized persons must show due care’, and iv) ‘lack information’ on what actions were taken to avoid a failure. The observations also address the situation where an agent remains of record but an annuity service is paying maintenance fees.
PTA
CIPO has an announced a consultation on the determination of additional term if a patent was issued after a threshold date unless, after accounting for days to be subtracted, the net number of relevant days prior to issuance falls below the threshold outlined in the Act. The consultation also considers extension of time for requesting examination, suspension of examination during late payment of maintenance fees and requesting priority and early publication on the same day. The consultation period is open until September 8.
Website Updates
Earlier this month, the Federal Court of Appeal updated its website, including the online docket listings to be similar to the Federal Court website. As a result of this change, I have now updated the IPPractice file browser to work again, including from embedded links in the daily emails, and added direct ‘download’ links where documents are available online.
International Trademarks
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic Int’l, Inc. on the foreign reach of the Lanham Act that prohibit trademark infringement, finding that the implicated sections are not extraterritorial and extend only to claims where the infringing use in commerce is domestic.
Appointments
The Honourable Monica Biringer, a Judge of the Tax Court of Canada, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court of Appeal. Appointments were also made today to Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, Superior Court of Quebec, Court of King’s Bench of Alberta.
Online News Act
Earlier today, Bill C-18 “An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada” received royal assent. It has a stated purpose “to enhance fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace and contribute to its sustainability”.
CIPO Fee Increases
As posted earlier this month, amendments to the Patent, Trademark and Industrial Design regulations coming into force on January 1, 2024 will adjust most fees by 25%. The amendments were published in today’s Canada Gazette.