Patent Filing Process in Canada
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in Blog, Canada, Intellectual Property, IP Litigation, Patent, Patent Infringement, Patent Opposition
Canadian Intellectual Property Office, commonly known as CIPO, is the controlling body for Patents and Trademarks in Canada. CIPO has been making a continuous effort to cut down the prosecution time to make the process of getting the Patent Application granted much faster. Currently, it takes nearly around 80 months for a Patent Application to be granted from the date of filing. It is still on a higher side when compared to the timelines of other countries like United States, Europe, India, and many other countries.
If we talk about the process for filing a Patent Application in Canada, it can be understood as described below:
Step 1: Filing of Patent Application:
Filing of a Provisional / Complete Application is done in English / French Language. In case of filing of a Provisional Application, Complete Application needs to be filed within 12 months of filing date / priority date (whichever is earlier).
Step 2: Publication:
Publication of the Complete Application is done in the Patent Journal within the 18 months of the filing date / priority date. However, the applicant can also opt for expedited publication for which an additional fee needs to be paid at the time of filing the complete application.
Step 3: Examination:
Examination of the Patent Application is carried out by the Examiner to evaluate the Patent Application on the grounds of the patentability criteria’s. The application comes to examination of the Patent Office (CIPO) as soon as the applicant submits the Request for Examination (RFE) that has to be submitted within 60 months of the filing date / priority date after the publication of the Patent Application.
Step 4: Prosecution:
Based on the examination conducted by the examiner and issues Objection Report which is also known as Office Action / Examination Report. If not satisfied with the response of First Examination Report (FER), the examiner can issue Second Examination Report (SER) or can also call for a face to face hearing. The consolidated time for this overall process is 90 days from the date of issuance of FER.
Step 5: Payment of Annuities:
Upon the grant of the Patent Application, annuities are supposed to be paid by the applicant to the Patent Office after second year onwards the grant till the tenure of the patent protection which is 20 years from the filing date / priority date.
Effectual Services has experience in dealing with Patent Filing/Prosecution as per Canadian Patent Filings, and can assist in hand-holding through the complete prosecution lifecycle of a Patent. Our patent filing procedure is in compliance to CIPO’s guidelines.
If you have any doubts or questions about the patent process in Canada, feel free reach out at Info@effectualservices.com