The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has announced consultations on the regulatory framework for patent and trademark agents.
Tag Archives: Rule Changes
Marrakesh Treaty
Bill C-11 entitled, “An Act to amend the Copyright Act (access to copyrighted works or other subject-matter for persons with perceptual disabilities)” was introduced today to implement the Marrakesh Treaty.
TPP
Last week, the official text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership was posted, including the chapter on Intellectual Property and various related side instruments. The new Liberal government has said it will review the agreement and have consultations.
Plant Breeders’ Rights
Canada has notified WIPO that Canada has ratified the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. The treaty will enter into force on July 19, 2015 which follows the amendments earlier this year to the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act.
CIPO News
Several items regarding the Canadian Intellectual Property Office:
- CIPO announced it will begin accepting trademark applications using the Nice Classification this fall. This follows proposed regulations last year.
- A practice notice entitled “Examination Practice Respecting Medical Diagnostic Methods” was published today, building on earlier practice notices relating to purposive construction.
- Revised MOPOP chapters were published on filing and completion (Chapter 5), ownership, registration and joint inventors (Chapter 6), examination (Chapter 13), withdrawal, abandonment, reinstatement, lapse and time limits (Chapter 20), and maintenance fees (Chapter 24).
- The 2015 Trademark Agent examination dates were announced.
- As noted last week, Johanne Bélisle has been appointed as CEO of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
PM(NOC) Amendments
Amendments to the PM(NOC) Regulations relating to the listing of patents against combination drugs have been made. The amending regulations, substantially in the form published in May, were registered last week and will be formally published on July 1st in the Canada Gazette.
Agent Privilege
Bill C-59 received royal assent yesterday which includes changes to the Patent Act, Trade-marks Act, Copyright Act and the Industrial Design Act. The changes include agent privilege, provisions for force majeure and term extension. The provisions on privilege will come into force next year at this time while other sections will require implementing regulations and further orders in council.
Budget Bill
Bill C-59, entitled An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 21, 2015 and other measures, was introduced today to implement portions of the budget. The proposed changes include amendments to:
- Copyright Act – term of sound recording and performance rights;
- Patent Act – privilege for patent agents, force majeure, correcting errors and other changes;
- Trade-marks Act – privilege for trade-mark agents, force majeure, correcting errors;
- Industrial Designs Act – force majeure, correcting errors.
PM(NOC) Regulations
Proposed amendments to the PM(NOC) Regulations have been published in the Canada Gazette Part I, relating to the listing of patents claiming single medicinal ingredients found in combination drugs. The government indicated its plans to make these amendments in the fall of 2014, following Court decisions in Gilead and Viiv.
Budget
Today, as part of its budget announcement the government indicated its plans to amend the Patent Act, Trade-marks Act and Industrial Design Act to provide statutory privilege for confidential communications with agents and permit CIPO to extend deadlines in cases of force majeure. The government also plans to amend the Copyright Act to implement and accede to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled and to extend the term of protection of sound recordings and performances for an additional 20 years.