CUSMA (NFTA-2) comes into force July 1st 2020!

CUSMA (NFTA-2) comes into force July 1st 2020! CUSMA, the Canadian, United States and Mexico Agreement (NFTA-2) comes into force tomorrow, July 1st, 2020! Many IP obligations under CUSMA have been ratified through the new Patent Act, Industrial Design Act and Trademarks Act. More changes that will be made through legislative amendments are, for instance:       “collective marks” protection       Patent term adjustment due to unreasonable delay in the issuance of a patent       Increase in copyright protection       Strengthened the protection of trade secrets For more information please see: https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/cusma-aceum/text-texte/toc-tdm.aspx?lang=eng Published by Mr. Peng Li –...

June 30, 2020
By News, Patents
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COVID 19 Update

COVID 19 Update In view of COVID 19, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office [Patent Office, Trademark Office, & Industrial Design Office] is extending due dates until May 1, 2020 for all matters before CIPO that have a deadline to take action for the period beginning March 16, 2020 and currently ending April 30, 2020. However, like CIPO, we are recommending that all deadlines falling within this period be continued to be met, where possible, so as to maintain as normal a...

March 30, 2020
By News, Patents, Trademarks
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Canadian Patent Blog: New Patent Rules

Canadian Patent Blog: New Patent Rules The new Patent Rules were recently published and the long awaited amendments to the Canadian Patent Act are scheduled to come into force on October 30, 2019.  These changes to the Patent Rules and Patent Act will substantially alter Canadian practice. A few of these changes include but are not limited to: For new filings, an English or French translation is no longer needed to obtain a filing date; however, the translation must be provided within two...

July 23, 2019
By News, Patents
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Canadian Trademarks Update: Madrid Protocol, the Singapore Treaty and the Nice Agreement 

Canadian Trademarks Update: Madrid Protocol, the Singapore Treaty and the Nice Agreement  In accordance with new Canadian trademark laws, today the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) announced that the Madrid Protocol, the Singapore Treaty and the Nice Agreement have now come into force for Canada. These changes give Canadian businesses access to the a centralized trademark filing systems enabling them to apply for a trademark in up to 120 countries with only one application. The following resources guide has been made available...

June 17, 2019
By News, Trademarks
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Canadian Trademarks Update

The new Trademarks Act in Canada comes into effect in 2 weeks, on June 17, 2019. Please see our post of February 22 for an outline of some of the changes. As a reminder, in regards to fees, it is important to note that there will be a separate fee charged per class ($330 government fee for the first class and then $100 for each additional class). In Canada, if the Examiner decides that additional classes are necessary, the applicant will...

June 3, 2019
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New Canadian Trademarks Law

The new Canadian Trademarks Act and Rules come into force in Canada on June 17, 2019.  The following is a highlight of changes in the law coming into force (CIF). The filing basis for applications has been eliminated. Accordingly there is no longer the need to specify the basis for filing of: a) a date of first use, b) intent to use, or c) on a foreign application/registration with use abroad. We believe the absence of this requirement at the...

February 22, 2019
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Canadian Trademarks Update

The Canadian Government has recently released the date that the changes to the Trade-Mark Act will be implemented. These changes are expected to come into force on June 17th, 2019. A few of the many changes include: Simplified trademark applications New and pending applications will no longer require a declaration of use There will be a broader definition of a mark to include colour, textures, etc.. The implementation of the classification of goods and services in accordance with the Nice Agreement For...

November 16, 2018
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Canadian Patent and Trademarks Update: Bill C-85

On October 29th Bill C-86, purposing changes to the Patents Act and Trade-marks Act, was tabled in the House of Commons. Some of the purposed changes to the Patent Act include: Providing rights to the Governor in Council to regulate standard essential patents (patents related to technology that needs to comply with technical/industry standards) Changes to the definition of Prior Use Adding provisions for protection from infringement for experimentation, granting it is not for commercial use Some of the purposed changes to...

November 6, 2018
By News, Patents, Trademarks
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Canadian Industrial Designs Update

As of today, November 5, 2018, the changes the Industrial Design Act and Rules have come into force bringing the Industrial Design Act and Rules into alignment with the Hague System.  The Hague System enables design patents to be filed and managed in multiple countries via one application. Some key changes to note are the following: Greater flexibility when filing divisional applications Increased terms of protection (a minimum of 10 years protection up to 15 years of protection) A wider...

November 6, 2018
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Canadian Patent Updates

On September 30th, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement in regards to the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will have the following influence on Intellectual Property: The term of protection for new innovative drug products containing a medicinal ingredient not yet approved in Canada will increase to 10 years (from 8 years). The USMCA will allow for the term of a patent to be adjusted based on...

October 2, 2018
By News
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Patents & Trademarks