Publications

March 12, 2021

Studios and designers: How to protect the intellectual property of your video games?

Behind every video game, there is intellectual property (IP) which is worth protecting to optimize monetisation of the game. As discussed in Studios and designers: Are you sure that you own the intellectual property rights to your video games, the first step for studios and designers is to make sure (…)

February 8, 2021

The Doctrine of File Wrapper Estoppel in Canada: The Court of Appeal Hands Down its Decision

In December 2018, section 53.1 was added to the Patent Act (the “Act”) allowing reference to be made to communications exchanged with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (“CIPO”) during the prosecution of an application with respect “[...]to the construction of a claim.” This concept is more (…)

December 21, 2020

Ho-Ho Holiday Themed Patents

 At Lavery, we spend a lot of time searching patent databases on behalf of our clients. Occasionally, we come across certain patents/applications whose cleverness and creativity make a lasting impression. At this time of year, our attention is naturally drawn to those that are holiday themed. And (…)

October 29, 2020

Canadian Patents: What to Keep in Mind One Year After the Coming into Force of the New Rules?

The first anniversary of the entry into force of the new Canadian Patent Rules, which significantly changed certain practices surrounding the filing and prosecution of patent applications in Canada, is an opportunity to look back at the major changes that have had a significant impact on Canadian (…)

August 31, 2020

Federal Court clarifies the assessment of patent-eligible subject matter in Canada

In Yves Choueifaty v. Attorney General of Canada1, the Federal Court of Canada has issued a significant decision concerning the assessment of patent-eligible subject matter, including the approach to be used for such assessment during the examination of Canadian patent applications. Historical (…)

August 10, 2020

Intellectual Property: New Options for Patent Ownership Disputes

Since 1995, the Federal Court of Canada has refused to hear questions relating solely to patent ownership. In Lawther v. 424470 B.C. Ltd.1 the Federal Court declined jurisdiction, stating that “[t]his Court has no jurisdiction to entertain a dispute which is solely a matter of contract”, thereby (…)

May 29, 2020

Natural Products and Pharmaceutical Innovations: What are the Patent Options?

Natural products play an important role in pharmaceutical innovation. They are active components in many medicines. For example, nearly half of the small molecules used to treat cancer are natural products or directly derived from natural products.1 They are also components of vaccines. The (…)

October 31, 2019

Estoppel based on patent prosecution history in Canada: The Pandora’s box is opened

Nearly twenty years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada1 rejected the theory of estoppel based on a patent’s prosecution history, more commonly known as "file wrapper estoppel"2). At the time, Justice Binnie wrote, “[…]purposive construction, which keeps the focus on the language of the claims, seems (…)

October 25, 2019

Changes to the Canadian Patent Rules came into force on October 30^th 2019

The new Patent Rules, as well as certain amendments to the Patent Act, came into force on October 30, 2019. These changes implement the Patent Law Treaty and reduce the risk to applicants of a loss of rights but also bring about practice changes worthy of mention. Canadian national phase of a PCT (…)

July 10, 2019

Ready, set go! Changes to Canadian patent practice coming into force later this year

The Government of Canada has just announced that the new Patent Rules, as well as certain amendments to the Patent Act, will come into force on October 30, 2019. These changes implement the Patent Law Treaty and reduce the risk of a loss of rights to Applicants but also bring about practice changes (…)

October 5, 2018

Use it and (maybe) lose it : Prior use and patentability

It is generally universal in patenting that an invention cannot have been previously disclosed to the public in order to qualify for patent protection. Canadian law stipulates that the subject matter of a patent claim must not have been disclosed “in such a manner that the subject-matter became (…)

September 21, 2017

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is coming into force today!

It is today, September 21st 2017, that Bill C-30 1 comes into force. As a result of its provisions, several Canadian laws are amended in order to allow for implementation of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement “CETA” 2. Chapter 20 of the CETA deals with the (…)

August 1, 2017

Medical use claims not involving the professional skill of a physician are patent-eligible in Canada.

In a previous newsletter 1, we discussed a change in Canadian patent practice in respect of the patent-eligibility of claims relating to medical uses, further to a decision from the Federal Court 2. Following this decision, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) issued a revised Practice (…)