By: H. Sam Frost
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This paper is based closely on a paper given at the Spring 1999 meeting of the
Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (formerly the Patent and Trademark Institute of
Canada), due to be published in the Canadian Intellectual Property Review. It has been
reworked to give a more international emphasis.
For the purpose of the present discussion, we are concerned with the significant
changes to the Canadian novelty standard that occurred in 1989; the further changes to the
Patent Act (see Endnote 1) that occurred in 1996 do not fundamentally affect any of
the points made here, as will be explained. Shortly after the amendments in 1989, John
Orange presented a paper to this Institute addressing much the same issues that are
addressed here, and it is believed that the concerns he raised did not generate much
interest in the profession (see Endnote 2).
