table of contents
1. XNUMX.Introduction
Below you will find useful information to assist you in protecting your design rights in Canada.
We hope that this page will be of assistance to you in protecting your intellectual property overseas. Please help us.
- If you have any questions about this article, please contact us by telephone or email (Legal Strategy Department), orthe Inquiry Form We are accepting consultations from now on. Please feel free to contact us.
2. Design Rights in Canada
A. Design
A design protected by the Design Act is "a feature of shape, contour, pattern or ornament in a finished product, or a combination of such features, which appeals to the eye or can be judged solely by the eye."
For example, the following designs are also eligible for protection:
- Set
Several articles with similar characteristics, such as a set of eating knives, forks, and spoons - "Kit"
A complete or substantially complete number of parts that can be assembled to make a finished product - icon
Icons and typefaces for display on computer screens, etc. - partial design
B. Application documents, etc.
- Application form (Application languages: English, French)
- Name and address of the applicant (creator or successor)
・Articles related to designs
- Information on priority claims, etc. - Description of the design (description of the design drawing or photograph)
- Photographs or drawings of the design
C. Requirements for Registrability of Designs
(1) Dissimilarity
A design that is not identical or similar to any other design, or that is confusingly similar to a previously registered design, will not be registered. However, related applications for similar designs can be filed.
(2) Originality
Originality is not explicitly stated in the law and is examined based on the interpretation of the Design Act.
(3) Prioritization
The date of originality is the date of creation of the design (priority of creation), or, if the date of creation cannot be established, the date of registration.
Even if a design has been published, there is a one-year grace period.
(4) Materials for judging originality
The criteria for judgment are whether the invention is publicly known domestically or abroad, and whether it is publicly known in domestic or foreign literature.
(5) Unity of application
D. Review Principle
- After filing a design application, the application automatically undergoes formal and substantive examination without the need to file a request for examination.
- By filing a request for delay in issuance of a design right and paying the delay fee, the registration date can be delayed by six months. (Like the Japanese secret design, this has the effect of delaying the publication of the design, but it differs in that the registration date is not delayed as with the Japanese secret design.)
- If there is a reason for filing an application, such as if there is a suspicion that the applied design is being copied by a third party or if there is a request for permission to use the design, it is possible to request an accelerated examination (a fee is required).
- Appeals: Rejections may be appealed to Federal Court.
- There is no opposition system, and invalidation trials are conducted by the Federal Court.
E. Duration
- 10 years from the date of design registration (protection of the design begins from the date of registration)
- A maintenance fee is required to be paid once within five years of registration, otherwise the registration will be considered abandoned.
F. Important Notice
- Even if copyright exists for an aesthetic work derived from a design, reproduction of the design does not infringe copyright if the article is reproduced in 50 or more units with the consent of the copyright owner. Design protection should be considered.
G. Treaties
The status of membership in the main treaties is as follows:
treaty of paris | WTO agreement | hague agreement | Locarno Agreement |
Join | Join | Join | Not a member |