News
Deadline Extensions at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office Due To COVID-19
Aug 20 2020
Update: Due to minor service interruptions at CIPO, and effective August 20, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced a final extension to patent, trademark and industrial design deadlines due to COVID-19. Deadlines are now extended until Monday, August 31, 2020. This will be CIPO's final deadline extension.
Additional information on this extension can be viewed at the CIPO website: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00050.html#CIPOupdate
Update: Effective August 5, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced a further extension to patent, trademark and industrial design deadlines due to COVID-19. Deadlines are now extended until Monday, August 24, 2020.
Update: Effective July 13, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced a further extension to patent, trademark and industrial design deadlines due to COVID-19. Deadlines are now extended until Monday, August 10, 2020.
Update: Effective June 30, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced a further extension to patent, trademark and industrial design deadlines due to COVID-19. Deadlines are now extended until Monday, July 20, 2020.
Update: Effective June 9, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced a further extension to patent, trademark and industrial design deadlines due to COVID-19. Deadlines are now extended until Monday, July 6, 2020.
Update: Effective May 26, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced a further extension to patent, trademark and industrial design deadlines due to COVID-19. Deadlines are now extended until Monday, June 15, 2020.
Update: Effective May 13, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced a further extension to patent, trademark and industrial design deadlines due to COVID-19. Deadlines are now extended until Monday, June 1, 2020.
Update: Effective April 27, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced a further extension to patent, trademark and industrial design deadlines due to COVID-19. Deadlines are now extended until Monday May 19, 2020.
Update: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) announced on Friday March 27, 2020 that all outstanding deadlines between March 16, 2020 and April 30, 2020 will now carry-over to May 1, 2020.
Frequently asked questions for patents due to service interruptions have also been made available at the CIPO website: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr04762.html
-Originally posted on March 16, 2020-
In a notice dated March 16, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has announced that they are invoking “unforeseen circumstances” and “public interest” provisions to implement extensions of time limits for all deadlines fixed under the Patent Act, the Trademarks Act, and the Industrial Design Act. CIPO due dates falling between March 16, 2020 and March 31, 2020 are extended to April 1, 2020.
Should circumstances continue, the date may be extended further.
The extension only applies to deadlines fixed under the Patent Act, the Trademark Act, or the Industrial Design Act. For instance, it applies to examination report response, examination request, maintenance fee deadlines, but may not apply to secure an application priority date, to secure a trademark first filing date, or for deadlines mandated by international treaty.
CIPO remains open and will continue to accept filings through their online portal, though they have warned to expect significant delays in all services.
Ridout & Maybee LLP also remains open and is committed to working with you to protect your intellectual property assets. It is our recommendation to continue to meet all deadlines, or to formally request extensions when provided by statute, whenever possible. If we cannot reach you to secure instructions, we will use these provisions to meet your deadline if necessary and appropriate. If you need to rely on the COVID-19 deadline extension, please contact your Ridout & Maybee LLP professional to confirm it is appropriate to do so.
Tags: Announcement, CIPO, Coronavirus, Firm News, Industrial Designs, Patents, Trademarks, Virus