Canadian Patent Filing and Enforcement as a "Trial Ballon"
In "Filing Patents in Canada: A Tactical Advantage," Canadian patent attorney Dennis S.K. Leung writes for IP Law 360 that "There is also much to commend Canada as a “trial balloon” jurisdiction before commencing examination of the patent application in the U.S":
- lower government fees
- no file wrapper estoppel
- Information Disclosure Statements are not required
- Canadian examiners rarely issue final actions and there are no continuation, CIP or RCE procedures
- Canadian examiners also routinely search in the U.S., Canadian and European databases
"The case for litigating in Canada, as opposed to the United States, is [also] a strong one," notes Dennis in another article. "The two systems are similar enough in their view of patent law, yet litigating in Canada is a much simpler, more streamlined and far less expensive prospect. A successful Canadian result may be used in several ways, whether as leverage in worldwide settlement negotiations or as a dress rehearsal for a day in a U.S. court."
1 Comments:
I think their suggestion on avoiding getting a foreign filing license squarely runs into the law. The law says very clearly "Except when authorized by a license obtained from the Commissioner of Patents a person shall not file or cause or authorize to be filed in any foreign country prior to six months after filing in the United States an application for patent or for the registration of a utility model, industrial design, or model in respect of an invention made in this country."
Am I missing something?
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