I am pleased to announce and welcome Tanner Hukezalie as a new Shareholder (Partner) of the firm. Tanner Hukezalie Tanner joined the firm in June of 2007. He wrote and successfully passed the Canadian Patent Agent’s Exams held in April of 2009. He was one of four successful candidates that year who wrote all four patent agent exams for the first time and passed all four exams. Tanner is also a US Patent Agent. At the firm, Tanner is the team leader of the...
On December 16, 2014, Bill C-34 received Royal Assent. This bill includes amendments to the Canadian Patent Act. The purpose of many of the amendments to the Patent Act is to align Canadian patent law with the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) done at Geneva on June 1, 2000. Currently, new Regulations are being drafted to support the amendments to the Patent Act. Once these Regulations are in place, the Act will come into force. One might expect to the see the...
A Canadian law practice, small or large, with corporate commercial lawyers may not have the resources to have its own in-house patent and/or trademark agent(s). This is where a virtual Patent and Trademark Agent firm can assist such a law firm. A Patent and Trademark Agent firm that specializes in acquiring patents and trademarks in Canada and abroad is in a good position to support your law firm in servicing the intellectual property needs of your corporate and commercial clients. A...
In the United States, a patent application may be filed based on an earlier filed “parent” application. Such applications include divisional applications and continuation applications. Continuation application and divisional applications have the same specification as the parent application but normally have different claims. Continuation-in-part (CIP) applications are also available in the United States. However, CIPs include subject matter not originally disclosed in the parent application. Of these types of applications available in the United States, only divisional applications are available...
The Good... The Bad... and The Ugly The Good... While there are several good amendments made by the Bill to the Trademarks Act, one significant positive change is the broader definition given to a trademark. The amended definition of a trademark is for a sign or combination of signs which include a word, a personal name, a design, a letter, a numeral, a colour, a figurative element, a three-dimensional shape, a hologram, a moving image, a mode of packaging goods, a sound,...
In the Supreme Court decision of Teva Canada Ltd. v. Pfizer Canada Inc. 2012 SCC 60 – Nov 8, 2012 - (Decision varied by SCC in 2013 from pronouncement that patent is not valid to “Teva has established its allegation that Canadian Patent 2,163,446 is not valid) the validity issue of the Viagra patent turned on the patent bargain not being met. The court set out the patent bargain in recognizing: The patent system is based on a “bargain”: the inventor...
One of the issues considered in the Canadian Supreme Court's decision on Masterpiece Inc. v. Alavida Lifestyles Inc., 2011 SCC 27, [2011] 2 S.C.R. 387 related to the non-overlapping geographical uses of the trade-marks in dispute. Both Masterpiece Inc. (Masterpiece) and Alavida Lifestyles Inc. (Alavida) were operators of retirement residences in different provinces of Canada. Alavida applied to register the trade-mark MASTERPIECE LIVING in Canada on the basis of the proposed use in 2005. The mark was registered in 2007 without...
Costs play an important role for business when making decisions to file and prosecute patent applications through to the grant of patents. These costs can run into the 10’s of thousands of dollars for protection in one or more countries. But the cost of obtaining protection sometimes pales in comparison to the cost of patent litigation. In the Federal Court of Canada supplemental reasons for judgment between ABB Technology AG and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (2013 FC 1050 - October...
The Canadian Patent Agent Exams are very challenging to pass in one or more sittings. The Exams are written once a year, usually in April and comprise four, four hour exams, written in four consecutive days. The first paper requires evaluation of an invention, prior art and the drafting of a complete patent application (all in 4 hours). The other three papers have a major question each relating one of an infringement opinion, a validity opinion and a response to...
The First Inventor to Receive a Patent? Filippo Brunelleschi - 1377-1446 - trained as a goldsmith in Florence, is principally known for his eventual work as a structural engineer and architect. At the end of the 13th century a decision was made by the governing body of Florence to construct a new cathedral – Santa Maria del Fiore. Construction commenced in the mid 1300s after instructions to the architect to incorporate a great octagon to support a dome. By the early...
