Canadian Patents
Canadian
patents are given to the first inventor to file an application.
Even if you can prove that you were the first to conceive
of the invention, you lose the race if a competing inventor
files before you do. It is therefore advisable to file Canadian
patents as soon as possible. But not too soon or you might
run the risk of omitting essential features from the application.
You may need to reapply later. You cannot also advertise,
display or publish information on your invention too soon.
You can be excluded from this rule if the disclosure was made
by the inventor, or someone who learned of the invention from
the inventor, less than one year before filing.
Steps
in Obtaining Canadian Patents Protection
The preliminary search
Preliminary search of existing
Canadian patents is the most basic search. This will determine
if your invention has ever been patented before. Knowing this
beforehand can save you much time and money.
Canadian Patents Database
Online
You can do a preliminary
search of Canadian patents bibliographical information and
have access to descriptions and image documents on issued
Canadian patents since 1920. Applications published in Canada
are also available since October 1989. Searches can be conducted
using key words in the title, the name of the inventor, owner
or applicant, the international or Canadian Patents Classification,
the PCT information, the abstract or claims text at http://patents1.ic.gc.ca/intro-e.html
Searching at the Patent
Office
If you do not want to solicit the aid of patent agent or lawyer,
the only way to conduct patentability or infringement search
on your own is by visiting the Patent Office. Canadian Patents
Office staff can direct you and give you useful information
but will not do the search for you.
The Patent Office in Place du
Portage I, Gatineau, Quebec, holds over 1.5 million Canadian
patents. Patent documents filed prior to October 1, 1989,
are classified according to the Canadian Patents Classification
system. Canadian Patents documents filed on or after October
1, 1989, are classified and searchable according to the International
Patent Classification (IPC) system. These documents can be
consulted on the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) Web site at: http://www.wipo.int/classifications/en/index.html
The Patent Search Room, in the Client Service Centre, is open
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through
Friday, except on legal holidays.
Full Searching of Canadian
Patents Documents using TechSource
TechSource is an electronic patent system which holds the
scanned image of over 1.5 million patent documents dating
back to 1920 and the text version of the documents from 1978.
The imaging system enables users to view all parts of Canadian
patents document from work stations. TechSource includes a
search and retrieval component, called Inquire/Text which
allows the searching of the patent database. This image and
text retrieval capability is currently available at the Patent
Search Room in Gatineau.
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