Patent applicants need to be aware of a subtle, but key
difference between Canada and other jurisdictions like the United
States when relying on the grace-period for inventor
disclosures.
For an invention to be patentable, it must be new, useful, and
non-obvious. To be new, the invention generally must not be
publicly known at the time the patent application is filed, which
includes not having been publicly disclosed by the inventor.
However, certain jurisdictions, such as Canada and the United
States, have a one-year grace period to file a patent application
if an inventor discloses their invention.
The grace period typically allows an inventor to publicly
disclose their invention, for example by selling their invention,
and not be barred from patenting their invention for one-year after
the disclosure. However, there is one key difference between the
Canadian and United States grace periods when claiming priority in
a patent application.
