At one time a non-inventor applicant for a Canadian patent
needed to record an assignment or other evidence to show how it
derived its rights in the invention from the inventor. Now, it need
only submit an unsigned declaration stating that it is the legal
representative of the inventor. The procedure has been made so
simple one might expect that nothing could go wrong. Earlier this
year the Federal Court of Appeal released a decision showing that,
unfortunately, it can.
The present case came before the Federal Court when the
University of Alberta sought judicial review in respect of certain
actions taken by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
relating to a patent application in which the University had
acquired an interest. The original applicants derived their rights
in the invention from the named inventors. However, the applicants
did not submit a declaration that they were the legal
representatives of the inventors, as required by paragraph
