Tanner, How Do I… Download A Canadian Patent?

Tanner, How Do I...  is a blogging series in which Steven Tanner provides helpful answers to IP law questions.

You want to download a Canadian patent.  Is this possible?  Yes!  And here's how.

There are three good ways to download a Canadian patent.

1. My Preferred Way to Download a Canadian Patent

My preferred way to download a Canadian patent is by using the patent retriever tool at ippractice.ca. Be sure to type "CA" before the seven-digit Canadian patent number and you should be fine. The website will send a full length pdf of the patent to your inbox, usually in seconds.

Make note of the option to "check this box to skip the cache" which is located below the text box. I have run into problems where I had previously downloaded a patent application that had subsequently been issued as a patent. I could only receive the application because it was stored in the cache. By checking this box the website conducts a fresh retrieval of the patent.