Amendments to the Patent Rules

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has made regulatory amendments to the Patent Rules. These amendments will allow Canada to meet international obligations under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and further streamline the patent examination process to better ensure efficient and timely processing of patent applications.

The amendments enter into force as follows:

: Sequence listings amendments

As of , for all patent applications filed on or after this date, a nucleotide or amino acid sequence that is not part of the prior art must be in a sequence listing compliant with WIPO ST.26 (PDF).

Applications filed in Canada before can continue to use the ST.25 format.

: Streamlining patent examination amendments

On , new mechanisms to streamline examination, new safeguards for applicants and patentees, and housekeeping and miscellaneous amendments will come into force.

  • An excess claim fee component for claims in excess of 20 will be added to both the request for examination fee and final fee and will apply to applications requesting examination on or after .
  • Further, new examiner's report limits will apply to applications with a request for examination on or after
    • If the limit is reached, applicants will be required to request continued examination and to pay a prescribed fee if they desire to continue prosecuting their application.
  • A new conditional notice of allowance will also be sent to applicants when only minor defects remain in the application, expediting the allowance process.

Learn more about the amendments

Chapters of CIPO's Manual of Patent Office Practice (MOPOP) that relate to sequence listings will be updated on . Our MOPOP Revision History will provide a summary of the changes and a pre-publication of the sequence listing update is available for review. For technical details, consult the WIPO Standard ST.26 (PDF).

If you have further questions, consult our Regulatory Amendment FAQs, WIPO's Implementation of ST.26 FAQs or contact our Client Service Centre.

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