At the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), we are dedicated to enhancing services and providing quality and timely intellectual property (IP) rights, while ensuring a modern client experience. CIPO's 2023–2028 Business Strategy outlines the vision and key priorities that will guide us over the next few years.
CIPO's vision to modernize the client experience will align our service improvements with the evolving needs of our clients and improve satisfaction as they navigate Canada's changing IP landscape.
To learn more about our service approach, we invite you to read the following pages.
CIPO's Service Strategy
Message from the CEO
Chief Executive Officer
I am delighted to introduce CIPO's new Service Strategy. This evidence-driven plan outlines a service improvement agenda that places clients at the forefront of our strategic priorities and operations.
At CIPO, we play a vital role in providing IP services to Canada's IP ecosystem, which includes a community of innovators, creators, businesses, IP agents, professionals and global stakeholders. In recent years, the IP landscape has been influenced by factors such as international treaties, an increase in the demand for IP and ongoing efforts to modernize services. As these conditions have evolved, so too have the needs and expectations of our valued clients.
In response to this shifting environment, we have embraced a culture of ongoing, continuous improvement that aims to proactively monitor feedback, drive service improvements, communicate priorities and foster a client-centric culture. We conduct regular reviews of our service offerings to identify opportunities for improvement, ensuring we remain agile and responsive to the evolving needs of our clients.
Our strategy outlines our service goals and includes the following:
- creating a more efficient application process
- enhancing the quality in the examination process
- ensuring timeliness of decisions
- equipping our staff to go the extra mile in their service delivery
With the focus on these goals, we aim to deliver client-centric services with the objective of improving overall client satisfaction. Our evidence base for this plan is founded on the responses we received from the 2022 Client Satisfaction Survey. We will act on what we heard as we remain dedicated to the timely delivery of IP rights and services that meet the evolving needs of our diverse clientele. This evidence-driven approach strengthens our ability to achieve the objectives outlined in our 2023–2028 Business Strategy.
As we embark on this journey, I invite you to explore CIPO's Service Strategy through CIPO's Service Improvement Roadmap. Thank you for your continued support as we work towards delivering an improved client service experience.
Related links:
Our service principles
When it comes to modernizing the client service experience, our priority is to provide clients with access to clear, accurate, consistent and secure IP information and services. As we continue to improve our services in alignment with your needs, our 4 service principles guide our teams to ensure a modern client experience is:
Client-centric
Our commitment to a client-centric service experience means that your satisfaction is important. Your feedback helps shape our priorities and service evolution, ensuring that our solutions meet your needs. We aim to meet your expectations through a process of ongoing, continuous improvement.
Data-driven
As a data-driven organization, we use analytical insights to guide our services and drive continuous improvement. By collecting data through various methods such as client surveys, we ensure our decisions are based on evidence. This approach helps us enhance our services and deliver better outcomes for our clients and stakeholders
Accessible by default and inclusive by design
We are committed to identifying and reducing barriers to ensure our services are accessible and inclusive for all individuals. This helps ensure that everyone can benefit from our offerings.
Digital–first and digital evolution
We are committed to the ongoing modernization of our digital services with the aim of improving efficiency and offering you a seamless service experience. Through the implementation of streamlined, accessible, user-tested processes, we strive to meet your needs and expectations as the digital landscape continues to evolve.
CIPO's Service Improvement Roadmap
Our vision for service excellence
We aim to enhance client satisfaction by aligning service improvements with the evolving needs of clients. We will empower Canada's innovation ecosystem by providing clients with high-quality, timely and modernized services.
Our data-driven approach to service improvement
The foundation of our service improvement efforts lies in our data-driven approach, which was informed by insights gathered from the 2022 CIPO Client Satisfaction Survey. CIPO conducted the survey from April 21 to June 27, 2022. We had 1,518 respondents, consisting of agents, represented clients, unrepresented clients and non-agent IP professionals.
| Demographic | Percentage (%) of respondents |
|---|---|
| Agents | 14% |
| Unrepresented clients | 65% |
| Mixed/Represented clients | 9% |
| Non-agent IP professionals | 12% |
Through a key driver analysis, we identified 4 critical factors that most influence overall client satisfaction:
Key driver 1: Application process
A preference for streamlined, customized service characterized by transparent requirements and user-friendly forms.
Key driver 2: Examination
Clear communication between client and examiner, examiner knowledge/expertise and consistent decision-making during the examination process.
Key driver 3: Timeliness of decisions
Timely decisions of office actions and IP registrations/grants.
Key driver 4: Going the extra-mile
An expectation that CIPO staff will go above and beyond to meet clients' needs.
Service improvement goals
To prioritize our service efforts, we have defined the following goals based on the key drivers of satisfaction:
- Clear and efficient application process
- Provide clear and concise information to clients
- An efficient filing process and user-friendly forms
- Consistent examination process
- Examiners are proficient, knowledgeable and able to tailor the examination process to meet clients' needs
- Maintain consistency in decision-making
- Ensure clear, understandable communication with clients throughout the process
- Improve timeliness of office actions
- Clients receive both first and subsequent office actions in a timely manner
- Go the extra mile
- Staff resolve issues effectively and professionally, demonstrating a strong understanding of clients' needs
- Acknowledge the critical role staff play in the IP process
- Maintain reasonable response times for client enquiries and requests
By concentrating service improvement efforts on these areas, we aim to increase overall client satisfaction by 10% over the 2022 levels by 2028.
Taking action
To achieve our service improvement goals, we have developed a comprehensive action plan, with targeted activities in key improvement areas. Our strategy focuses on strengthening 3 core pillars of our organization: our people, our processes and our data/tools.
People
Improving client service and streamlining processes
How we're getting there:
- Invest in training and development to ensure staff have the necessary skills to meet clients' needs
- Foster a client-centric culture throughout the organization
| Project | Service area | Date completed |
|---|---|---|
| Publish Service Strategy | CIPO-wide | 2024–2025 |
| Launch service excellence training curriculum | CIPO-wide | 2024–2025 |
| Continue professional development program, including advanced training to industrial design examiners | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2024–2025 |
| Improve the transparency of the application process by providing clients information such as estimated wait times | CIPO-wide | 2025–2026 |
| Develop new resources for unrepresented clients | CIPO-wide | 2024–2025 |
| Launch new resources for unrepresented clients | IP Awareness and Education | 2025–2026 |
| Project | Service area | Updated date |
|---|---|---|
| Continue the rollout of the service excellence training curriculum | CIPO-wide | Ongoing |
Processes
Enhance our processes to make services more client-centric and increase client satisfaction
How we're getting there:
- Streamline processes to improve efficiency and reduce delays in service delivery
- Implement best practices to ensure a consistent, high-quality experience for all clients
| Project | Service area | Date completed |
|---|---|---|
| Continue to implement the Trademark Recovery Plan | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2025–2026 |
| Streamline trademark examiners’ first reports and subsequent actions | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2025–2026 |
| Publish specificity guidelines for goods and services | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2024–2025 |
| Develop a quality framework | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2025–2026 |
| Expand the Goods and Services Manual | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2025–2026 |
| Improve high-pendency industrial design applications | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2024–2025 |
| Introduce a correction process for Hague Agreement applications | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2023–2024 |
| Project | Service area | Updated date |
|---|---|---|
| Enhance CIPO’s client enquiry management processes | CIPO-wide | 2026–2027 |
| Continue to optimize the patent examination process | Patents | Ongoing |
| Develop guidelines to improve industrial design search process consistency | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | On hold |
| Introduce a centralized call management solution | CIPO-wide | Ongoing |
Data and tools
Enable data-driven decision-making that enhances service delivery and overall reporting
How we're getting there:
- Leverage data to drive decision-making and measure the effectiveness of service improvement initiatives
- Continuously monitor and analyze client feedback to make data-driven adjustments
| Project | Service area | Date completed |
|---|---|---|
| Enhance pre-assessment letters; automate the issuance of letter to applicants, verify application compliance and invite revisions using pre-approved lists when necessary | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2024–2025 |
| Introduce tool to assist drafting subsequent reports and for Madrid Protocol applications | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | 2025–2026 |
| Project | Service area | Updated date |
|---|---|---|
| Enhance industrial design electronic services | Trademarks and Industrial Designs | Ongoing |
| Launch 2026 Client Satisfaction Survey | CIPO-wide | 2026–2027 |
| Continue the rollout of additional MyCIPO Patents portal features | Patents | Ongoing |
Tell us what you think!
Your feedback is important to us. Take the survey to share your thoughts on our Service Improvement Roadmap.
Related links
Transparent service standards and targets
Our commitment to service excellence is reflected in the establishment of client-centric service standards and targets, and the transparent communication of performance metrics on our website. This not only establishes a foundation of trust, it increases predictability for clients and reinforces CIPO's accountability in delivering timely and high-quality services.
We invite you to consult the following pages:
- Performance targets – CIPO's performance targets for all services, including our performance record for the current fiscal year
- Client service standards – CIPO's service standards related to services for which clients pay a fee (subject to the Service Fees Act and in accordance with the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Remission Policy, CIPO is required to remit a portion of a fee, also known as a remission, when a service standard is determined not to have been met and a remission is warranted)
- Canadian IP statistics – CIPO's latest operational and financial statistics, including monthly production statistics
How to participate and give feedback
Help us better understand your experiences as a CIPO client.
If you would like to volunteer to participate in future research, such as interviews or usability testing of prototypes, please fill out the CIPO client feedback form.