The recently proposed amendments to the Canadian Patent Rules will primarily affect the examination process and, as proposed, will not apply to applications on which examination has been requested prior to the coming-into-force date of the proposed amendments. The proposed amendments to the Patent Rules are described according to the following three main themes.
Streamlining patent examination
The proposed amendments would limit the number of examination reports that would be written before examination is ceased, would limit the number of claims that would be examined for the base fee for examination and would streamline the process of allowing a patent application when only minor defects remain to be addressed by the applicant. Continue Reading