CIPO Launches Accelerated Patent Examination for Critical Minerals

Canadian Intellectual Property Office retired COVID-19 accelerated examination program The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) recently introduced a pilot of the Key Technology Expedited Program (KTEP), offering a speedier patent examination pathway for certain technologies and innovations, with the first active stream centred on the country’s critical minerals supply chain. Through this initiative, eligible applicants can ask for an accelerated patent examination at no additional cost. In its announcement, CIPO noted that approved applicants are exempt from the advanced examination fee for moving a patent application ahead of the usual order. Upon its launch, the KTEP pilot features an active stream and a contingency stream, each with a maximum annual limit of 50 eligible requests. CIPO described the two streams as follows: CIPO said it might add further streams in the future. For an accelerated examination under the KTEP pilot, a patent application should: In its news release , CIPO explained that the KTEP pilot aims to: As of Sept. 2, CIPO announced the retirement of its COVID-19 relief accelerated examination program, established in July 2020. Through that initiative, eligible small entities gained access to a no-fee pathway to faster examinations of patent applications for technologies that supported the health-related response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some other recent news stories involving patents. On June 16, the federal health minister announced the following appointments to the board of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board: administrative labour lawyer Peter Moreland-Giraldeau as vice chairperson and retired lawyer Conor McCourt as a member. After upholding a Federal Court decision that an Ontario corporation had infringed the patent held by a French company, the Federal Court of Appeal issued a June 1 ruling assessing the successful party’s bill of costs and allowed a total amount of $8,787.35. Enjoy this story? Read the latest intellectual property law news on the main page! The Canadian Legal Newswire is a FREE newsletter that keeps you up to date on news and analysis about the Canadian legal scene, providing targeted news and information of interest to Canadian Lawyers. Please enter your email address below to subscribe.