On April 2, 2012 the Canadian Intellectual Property Office
(CIPO) released three draft practice notices related
to patentable subject matter for a 30-day "consultation
period":
- Statutory Subject Matter Under the Patent Act
- Office Practice Respecting Inventive Concept
- Office Practice Respecting Claims to Diagnostic Methods and
Medical Uses
CIPO's practice notices describe the manner in which CIPO
proposes to examine patent applications. These notices are
guidelines that reflect the views of the Office, and although they
have no force in law, they affect the examination procedure applied
by the Office to patent applications.
The draft practice notices come in the wake of the controversial
Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) decision in Amazon.com. In
that case, the FCA was critical of CIPO for overstepping its
authority when it applied a test without basis in Canadian law to
refuse Amazon.com's "1-Click" patent application.
Following the Court of Appeal
