Canada's Revamped Industrial Design Regime To Come Into Effect Next Month

Major amendments to Canada's Industrial Design Act and corresponding Regulations are scheduled to come into force on November 5^th, bringing Canadian design law into line with the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (Hague Agreement).

As we reported previously , the updated Act will enable Canadians - by way of the Hague Agreement - to obtain industrial design registrations in multiple countries with a single international application filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The new Act and Regulations will also align Canada's industrial design laws with international standards in a number of respects, including:

• codifying a "novelty" test to replace the previous "originality" test;