Our professionals regularly publish on new developments in intellectual property law. Our Editor is: Pat Cotter.
With the closing of the fiscal year, companies everywhere are reviewing their 2016 IP spending and looking for ways to lower their patent costs in 2017. One such avenue available in Canada is the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH).
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) recently released the 2017 Special 301 Report. The Report identifies trade barriers to US companies and products due to the intellectual property laws, such as copyright, patents and trademarks, in other countries.
Before refusing a patent application, the Canadian Patent Office convenes a panel of the Patent Appeal Board (the “PAB”) to review the application and provide a recommendation to the Commissioner of Patents. This recommendation and the Commissioner’s determination on the allowability of the application are published together as a “Commissioner’s Decision”.
