The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has now updated its Service and Website Interruptions page to inform the public of new deadline extensions and that its document dissemination service has now resumed operation.
Deadline Extensions
We had reported in a previous alert that CIPO had extended certain deadlines falling between March 16, 2020 and April 30, 2020 to May 1, 2020.
CIPO has now announced that these deadlines, as well as any such deadlines falling between May 1 and May 15, are extended to May 19, 2020.
To achieve the deadline extensions, the Commissioner of Patents, The Registrar of Trademarks, and the Minister of Industry have each exercised their legislated authority to deem all days in the period beginning on March 16, 2020 and ending on May 15, 2020 as Designated Days. It is provided for in legislation that time periods fixed in legislation, but ending on a Designated Day or a Prescribed Day, are extended to the next day that is not a Designated Day or a Prescribed Day. Due to Canada’s annual Victoria Day long weekend falling on May 16-18, 2020, each of these weekend days is a Prescribed Day.
We recommend that, where possible, clients should aim to meet the original deadlines. However, please contact us promptly if there has been a missed deadline, or if there is a concern about missing a future deadline so that we can assist you with risk mitigation and planning.
Document Dissemination
CIPO has now announced that its document dissemination service, which had previously been receiving orders but not fulfilling them, has resumed full service as of April 27, 2020. Clients are advised to expect delays in processing as CIPO works through the backlog of orders.
* This is an update to a previous alert on this topic, which may be found here:
Please Note: These materials do not constitute legal or medical advice. Government initiatives, announcements, and regulations in response to the COVID-19 situation continue to evolve and change frequently.
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