Publication date:
Amendment date:
This notice is intended to clarify the practice of the Trademarks Office with respect to the waiver of fees and the refund of overpayment of fees and replaces the practice notice of the same name published on the CIPO website on .
Waiver of fees
Section 11 of the Trademarks Regulations (the Regulations) permits the Registrar to waive the payment of a fee listed in the Tariff of Fees if the Registrar is satisfied that the particular circumstances justify the waiver. Generally, the Registrar will only waive the payment of a fee in circumstances where the applicant or registered owner must pay additional fees to the Registrar to rectify their legal rights previously affected due to an error or action by the Registrar. For example, if a trademark registration has goods or services omitted by reason of a transcription error by the Office, the Registrar may waive the fee for the applicant to extend the goods or services under subsection 41(2) of the Trademarks Act (the Act).
Making a Request
Requests must be made in writing and explain the circumstances that led the payer to believe a waiver is justified. Requests for a waiver should be addressed as follows and sent by mail or fax:
Request for Waiver of Fee
c/o Deputy Director, Examination Division
Trademarks Office
Canadian Intellectual Property Office
50 Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0C9
Fax: 819-953-2476.
The Registrar will not consider an inability to pay or financial hardship as justifying a waiver of the payment of a fee. The Registrar will generally not grant the waiver of a fee where the applicant or registered owner did not take advantage of other legislative provisions which would have remedied the Registrar's error or action (e.g. the registered owner failed to make a timely request, under subsection 41(3) of the Act, to correct an error).
Please note that the fee in question must be paid in full before the Registrar will consider a request for a waiver. If the request is granted, the fee will be refunded.
Refunds
Section 12 of the Regulations requires the Registrar to refund the overpayment of any fee listed in the Tariff of Fees. An overpayment includes paying more than the fee listed or paying for a request or service for which no fee is listed in the schedule. Please note that the Office does not consider the payment of the filing fee for two or more identical applications to be an overpayment of a fee where the fault is with the applicant and not due to the malfunction of the online filing system.
Making a Request
Requests for refunds must be made in writing no later than three years after the day on which the fee was paid and may be submitted by mail or fax using the contact information outlined below, or through the General Correspondence online service for trademarks.
Request for Refund of Fee c/o Deputy Director, Examination Division
Trademarks Office
Canadian Intellectual Property Office
50 Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0C9
Fax 819-953-2476.
Pursuant to subsection 4(1) of the Regulations, requests must not relate to more than one application for the registration of a trademark or more than one registered trademark.