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Canadian Patent Filing and Enforcement as a "Trial Ballon"

By William F. Heinze

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."

Full post as published by I/P Updates on January 28, 2008 (boomark / email).