In the final blog of our three-part series, we will outline one of the most frequently asked questions about filing a patent in Canada, what happens next.
If you want your application to be reviewed as fast as possible, it may be possible to request advanced examination of your application. To do this, however, your application must already be published (which generally happens automatically happens 18 months after it has been submitted), you must request examination and pay the requisite fees. Be aware that any member of the public can file objections to your application with CIPO officials who will review these objections at the time the application is examined.
What Next?
Once you’ve successfully submitted your patent application and requested examination, the next step is waiting for it to be reviewed. A CIPO patent examiner will go over the application and either approve or reject your claims. It is possible for some or all of your claims to be approved or rejected by an Examiner. When rejected, the applicant has the opportunity to respond to the rejection, provide arguments and amend the claims in an attempt to convince the Examiner of the differences between the invention described in the patent application and the references provided by the Examiner. It is common for patent applications to go through several rounds of this before they are approved, but it is important to understand that many patents never mature into issued patents.
In many cases, it takes years before your patent is approved or outright denied. This is because CIPO receives a large number of requests and applications every year.
Filing your application correctly the first time it is submitted can determine how the outcome of your patent. It can become both time consuming and costly if the application is not submitted correctly. A patent agent or lawyer can assist in the preparation of a patent application that clearly describes your invention and may also assist with the examination process.
For help filing an application or navigating the examination process, contact our patent agents and lawyers in Edmonton for a free consultation by clicking here.