Ghosts And Goblins Beware - Major Changes In Patent Practice In Canada To Take Effect On October 30, 2019

On July 10, 2019, the Canadian government published the final version of the new Patent Rules in the Canadian Gazette, Part II. Importantly, it was announced that the new Rules, and therefore corresponding amendments to the Patent Act, will come into force on October 30, 2019. A summary of the major changes being brought in by the amended Act and Rules can be found in our articles;  here, here and here.

The final version of the Rules saw only a few significant changes from the previous version, perhaps most noteworthy being that the time limit for requesting correction of obvious errors in a patent has been extended from 6 months to 12 months after the issue date and that having language in sequence listings in a language other than French or English is acceptable. Otherwise, the changes include minor wording modifications, correction of typographical errors and clarifications in certain sections.