Five Ways to Use Pre-Grant Patent Protests

FIVE WAYS TO USE PRE-GRANT PATENT PROTESTS
JEREMY LAWSON*
ROBIC, LLP
LAWYERS, PATENT AND TRADE-MARK AGENTS
Opportunities for a third party to protest against a patent application before it is
granted vary widely by jurisdiction. In Canada, section 34.1 of the Patent Act and
section 10 of the Patent Rules enable a number of strategies for protesting against a
pending application. Here are five ways to use Canada's pre-grant protest system.
1. Submit new prior art
One of the best ways to use the protest system is to submit prior art publications
which the Canadian Examiner has not yet applied against the pending application.
Accompanying the prior art with concise and convincing arguments can be especially
useful to encourage the Examiner to issue rejections. Prior art submissions can be
made anonymously, and can also be filed at any time prior to grant including after a
notice of allowance has been issued.
2. Non prior art grounds
A protest does not have to be based on prior art. It can be filed based on any
number of grounds, such as ambiguity in the claim language, lack of utility, or patentineligible subject matter. Protests based on such grounds can lead to Examiner
rejections and, in turn, to claim amendments that can provide enhanced clarity in
terms of infringement issues. With Canada's high bar for utility, a protest based on
lack of demonstrated utility or sound prediction can increase the likelihood of
Examiner rejections and can lead to significant reduction in claim scope. Canada
also has stricter standards for patent-eligible subject matter compared the U.S.,
especially in the areas of business methods, computer-implemented methods, and
medical treatments. When submitting protest arguments that are not based on prior
art, it can also be useful to make reference to the Manual of Patent Office Practice
© CIPS, 2016.
*
Jeremy Lawson is an engineer and patent agent, partner with ROBIC, LLP, a multidisciplinary firm of
Lawyers, and Patent and Trade-mark Agents. Published on 2016-07-06 on LinkedIn. Publication
062.075.
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(MOPOP), which is used by Canadian Examiners to formulate and support claim
rejections.
3. Protest combined with third party request for examination
In Canada, to initiate examination of an application a request must be filed along with
an examination fee. The deadline to file the request for examination is five years
from the application’s filing date, and can be further delayed in some circumstances.
This relatively long delay period prior to examination can cause uncertainty in terms
of the scope of protection that may eventually be granted. Typically, it is the
applicant which files the request for examination when it decides to go forward with
the application. However, a third party can initiate examination by filing the request
for examination, thus forcing the application to be examined. Moreover, examination
can be accelerated by a third party by filing a simple request and paying a fee. By
forcing early and, in some cases, accelerated examination in combination with a
protest, a third party can hope to quickly gain more certainty around the Examiner’s
view of the invention and the scope of protection that may be allowable.
4. Get prior art into a counterpart U.S. case
This strategy can be viewed as a two-for-one approach when a Canadian application
also has a U.S. counterpart application. Not only will new prior art be made of record
in the Canadian case, but it should also be submitted to the U.S. Examiner by the
applicant or its patent attorneys via an Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)
pursuant to U.S. duty of disclosure requirements. In some instances, the protest
arguments themselves may be submitted to the U.S. Examiner in addition to the
prior art references.
5. Comment on documents already of record
There is no obligation to submit prior art not already of record in a pending
application. A protest can be filed in order to comment on any document of record in
an application. A third party can file comments regarding the relevance of prior art
already cited by the Examiner; the arguments or amendments submitted by the
applicant during examination; or any office actions issued by the Examiner. A third
party can point to a specific passage in a prior art document to highlight anticipation
or obviousness issues for the Examiner; submit arguments regarding the
specification and claim scope in the context of utility issues; or provide comments to
directly address or counter the applicant’s own arguments.
In summary, Canada’s pre-grant protest system can be a useful tool for facilitating a
variety of strategies to challenge pending patent applications which may not meet all
of the requirements of patentability. Of course, any protest strategy should be
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carefully considered and balanced against the potential risks. In general, the strength
of a protest should be weighed against the risk of alerting the applicant of the
importance of the patent application and against the options available to the
applicant to fix or even strengthen the claims.
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For services pertaining to intellectual property, technology and
communication law and related matters (including patent and trade-mark
agency services) as well as legal services.
ROBIC, un groupe d'avocats et d'agents de brevets et de marques de
commerce voué depuis 1892 à la protection et à la valorisation de la propriété
intellectuelle dans tous les domaines: brevets, dessins industriels et modèles
utilitaires; marques de commerce, marques de certification et appellations
d'origine; droits d'auteur, propriété littéraire et artistique, droits voisins et de
l'artiste interprète; informatique, logiciels et circuits intégrés; biotechnologies,
pharmaceutiques et obtentions végétales; secrets de commerce, know-how et
concurrence; licences, franchises et transferts de technologies; commerce
électronique, distribution et droit des affaires; marquage, publicité et
étiquetage; poursuite, litige et arbitrage; vérification diligente et audit. ROBIC,
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a group of lawyers and of patent and trademark agents dedicated since 1892 to
the protection and the valorization of all fields of intellectual property: patents,
industrial designs and utility patents; trademarks, certification marks and
indications of origin; copyright and entertainment law, artists and performers,
neighbouring rights; computer, software and integrated circuits;
biotechnologies, pharmaceuticals and plant breeders; trade secrets, knowhow, competition and anti-trust; licensing, franchising and technology
transfers; e-commerce, distribution and business law; marketing, publicity and
labelling; prosecution litigation and arbitration; due diligence. ®/MD
COPYRIGHTER TM/MC
IDEAS LIVE HERE ®/MD
IL A TOUT DE MÊME FALLU L'INVENTER!
®/MD
LA MAÎTRISE DES INTANGIBLES ®/MD
LEGER ROBIC RICHARD ®/MD
NOS FENÊTRES GRANDES OUVERTES SUR LE MONDE DES AFFAIRES ®/MD
PATENTER®/MD
or stylizedR®/MD
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