Canada—Patent Law and Rule Changes

LADAS & PARRY

Canadian Patent Law and Rules were amended with effect from October 1, 1996. The points summarized below should in particular be noted:

1) The term for entry into the national phase on a PCT application may be extended by 12 months by payment of a fee;
2) The term for requesting examination is reduced to 5 years from filing for applications filed on or after October 1, 1996;
3) Retroactive extensions of time will no longer be possible for responding to official actions but an extension will be possible by payment of a fee and an explanation for the reason for the extension as long as this is filed before the expiration of the deadline. However, no extension can be granted beyond six months from the date of the action;
4) The definition of a small entity has been expanded to include universities and to delete the former financial limitations on enterprises that have 50 or fewer employees and would otherwise have qualified for small entity status;
5) Divisional applications may now include subject matter not previously claimed in the parent application;
6) A claim having multiple dependency may now depend upon another claim having multiple dependency;
7) Internal priority from a previous Canadian application will be permitted as long as the application in question is filed within one year of the first Canadian application;
8) Sequence listings will be required for biological inventions and deposits of biological material required in order to establish the sufficiency of the disclosure must be made prior to the Canadian filing;
9) is made explicit that each claim bears its own "claim date."