On 30 July 2019 Canada acceded to the Patent Law Treaty. This accession marks the near completion of Canada's long and ambitious journey to modernise its patent, trademark and industrial design laws and harmonise its IP laws with its most important trading partners worldwide.

Treaties

This journey began on 28 January 2014, when the government simultaneously tabled five different international treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation:

  • the Hague Agreement, which makes it possible for industrial design owners to obtain protection for industrial designs in a number of member countries by filing a single international application directly with the International Bureau;
  • the Madrid Protocol, which makes it possible for trademark owners to protect their marks in multiple countries, in part by enabling applicants to file a single international application and designate the member countries in which they seek protection for their marks;
  • the Singapore Treaty, which harmonises several formal procedures in respect of trademark applications and registrations;
  • the Nice Agreement, which provides a comprehensive classification system for goods and services for use in registering trademarks, simplifying the application process among member countries; and
  • the Patent Law Treaty, which harmonises several formal procedures in respect of national and regional patent applications and patents, aiming to make such procedures more user friendly.

Canada's accession to treaties

Over the past five years, the government has drafted, publicly consulted on and implemented the legislation and regulations required to allow Canada to accede to each of these international treaties. The following is a summary of Canada's accession to these treaties:

  • On 16 July 2018 Canada acceded to the Hague Agreement. Amendments to the Canadian Industrial Design Act and the Industrial Design Rules that allowed Canada to implement this agreement came into force on 5 November 2018 and introduced several important changes to Canadian industrial design practice (for further details please see "We have lift off: Canada's new industrial design regime launched").
  • On 17 March 2019 Canada acceded to the Madrid Protocol, the Singapore Treaty and the Nice Agreement. Amendments to the Canadian Trademarks Act and the Trademarks Rules that allowed Canada to implement these trademark treaties came into force on 17 June 2019 and resulted in important changes to Canadian trademark practice (for further details please see "Top 10 changes to Canada's trademark law").
  • As noted above, on 30 July 2019 Canada acceded to the Patent Law Treaty. Amendments to the Canadian Patent Act and the Patent Rules which will allow Canada to implement this treaty are set to come into force on 30 October 2019. Consequently, there are several upcoming changes to Canadian patent practice resulting from these amendments, along with recommendations for best practice (for further details please see "Detailed overview of deadlines and requirements under new Patent Rules").

Comment

As a result of the recent and upcoming changes to Canadian patent, trademark and industrial design law, Canadian and international businesses and rights holders alike can expect a more consistent and level playing field for securing IP rights.

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