CIPO Deadlines Extended to March 31st as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Although sadly there will not be any St. Patty’s Day celebrations today, we did receive some news to celebrate from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). 

Today CIPO issued the following statement:

“On account of the unforeseen disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, and being satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so, the Commissioner of Patents, under subsection 78(2) of the Patent Act, the Registrar of Trademarks under subsection 66(2) of the Trademarks Act, and the Minister under subsection 21(2) of the Industrial Design Act have designated for the purposes of subsection 78(1) of the Patent Act, subsection 66(1) of the Trademarks Act, and subsection 21(1) of the Industrial Design Act all days in the period of time beginning on March 16, 2020 and ending on March 31, 2020.”

What this means for IP owners is that if a time period fixed under the Patent Act, Trademarks Act and Industrial Design Act falls between March 16 and March 31, 2020, that time period is now extended until April 1, 2020, or such other day, as may be determined by CIPO.   In other words, CIPO may decide to extend the period of time, if necessary.

Please note that as of now, CIPO remains open and its online solutions are available 24/7.  Clancy PC will continue to conduct business as usual until further notice. 

For more information on CIPO’s operations and services, please click here. 

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