The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) updated its Industrial Design Office Practice Manual on 29 October and introduced a new practice with immediate effect: for Hague applications designating Canada, correspondence submitted by the representative recorded in the international registration will be treated as sufficient notice that this representative is appointed as agent before CIPO, provided it gives the representative's name and postal address as recorded on the International Register.
## The previous practice
Until now, appointing a representative in an international application took effect only before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
An applicant wanting an agent in Canada had to send CIPO a separate and sufficiently clear notice of appointment. Without one, the Canadian application could be delayed or, in some cases, abandoned.
Conditions of the new practice
- The correspondence comes from the representative recorded in the international registration.
- It states the representative's name and postal address exactly as recorded on the International Register.
- It covers each Canadian application stemming from that international registration.
Exception: an agent already on file
The new practice does not apply where an agent has already been appointed; changing agent still requires clear revocation and appointment requests. CIPO says the aim is to improve efficiency, increase certainty and prevent loss of rights. The Manual's Hague content and CIPO's correspondence have also been revised and reorganised to reflect current practice.
J&C recommends that applicants designating Canada through the Hague System make sure the representative's name and postal address on the International Register are accurate and match exactly what is later sent to CIPO. If you want an agent other than the international representative to act in Canada, or an agent is already on file, still file a clear appointment or revocation request to avoid delays caused by an unclear agency.
Source: ised-isde.canada.ca
