In 2014, the Patent Act, the Trade-marks Act and the Industrial Design Act were amended to allow Canada to join five international IP treaties. This will provide Canadian businesses with a competitive advantage, thanks to a reduced administrative burden and harmonized IP procedures.

Over the coming months, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) will be seeking your feedback on a variety of topics such as:

• the proposed changes to the trademark and patent fees and their related service standards (from June 6 to July 5, 2016); and
• the proposed regulatory amendments to the Industrial Design Regulations (targeted for later this year).

As always, we value your feedback and encourage you to participate in these upcoming consultations. At this time, I am pleased to communicate that we are starting the first of these consultations—the proposed changes to the trademark and patent fees and their related service standards.

Joining these treaties entails changes to CIPO’s service offering, which involves a change in the existing user fee regime. All new fees and services set by the Government of Canada must be established in accordance with the process set out in the User Fees Act. The proposed adjustments in trademark and patent fees are in line with international standards and recommended practices, and provide improved services to businesses, and minimize overly broad trademark applications.

A copy of the trademark and patent fees consultations and all future consultations will be posted on our website.

We look forward to your organization’s participation in these consultations, and welcome your feedback. For questions regarding the consultation on trademark or patent fees, please email ic.cipoconsultations-opicconsultations.ic@canada.ca.

Thank you for your continued collaboration and support as we move forward in modernizing the Canadian IP framework.

Martin Cloutier

Director General, Programs Branch, Canadian Intellectual Property Office