Proposed Amendments to Canadian Patent Act to Permit Fee Correction

The last issue of E-TIPSâ„¢ (Vol 2, No 14, December 18, 2003) reported that the Canadian Government intended to amend the Patent Act to address fee correction as a result of the Federal Court of Appeal decision in Dutch Industries Ltd. v The Commissioner of Patents, et al. The proposed amendments have now been released and the Call for Comments welcomes submissions until March 31, 2004. The proposed amendments (as a one-time transitional mechanism) will allow applicants or patentees to top up mispaid small entity fees within six months after the coming into force of the amended sections. The amendments will also provide a deeming mechanism for the Commissioner to accept corrective fee payments on a forward-looking basis. Companion amendments to the Patent Rules are contemplated, but will be part of a separate consultation. The draft legislation is available at: http://strategis.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/patents/pt_act_proposals-e.html. See the Call for Comments at: http://makeashorterlink.com/?A41812007. Summary by: Jennifer Jannuska