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ARTICLE · 11 MARCH 2013

Canadian Patent Office Issues Revised Examination Guidelines Concerning Computer-Based Inventions

Smart & Biggar
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The Canadian Intellectual Property Office published on March 8, 2013, the revised examination guidelines for its patent examiners in the wake of the 2011 Federal Court of Appeal decision in Attorney General of Canada v. Amazon.com Inc.

CanadaIntellectual Property
Bereskin & Parr LLP
Bereskin & Parr LLP
Stephen Beney
Stephen Beney
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The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) published on March 8, 2013, revised examination guidelines for its patent examiners in the wake of the 2011 Federal Court of Appeal decision in Attorney General of Canada v. Amazon.com Inc.

In that decision, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld portions of Amazon.com's appeal against the Commissioner of Patents' refusal of the patent application for its famous "1-Click" system. The application had been denied on several grounds relating to statutory subject matter.

The Court specifically rejected the Commissioner's "technological" requirement for patentable subject matter, holding it had no basis in Canadian law and that it was outside the Commissioner's jurisdiction to introduce a new test. The Court also rejected the Commissioner's "form and substance" approach to patentable subject matter as "confusing and unnecessary."

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