Canadian Patents
Canadian patents are patent rights given to the first inventor to file an application. You should file your application first in order not to lose your invention to another competing inventor,care has to be taken to follow the details needed to complete the application or you may be asked to reapply later.Much care has to be taken not to advertise, display or publish information on your invention too soon. You could be excluded from getting a patent 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 Searching for existing canadian patents is the first step in filing for a patent right. 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 bibliographic information which gives you 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 Searching could also be done by soliciting the aid of patent agent or lawyer,you could also conduct patentability or infringement search on your own 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. |