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Canadian patent law
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Canadian patent law is the patent legal regime used to protect inventions within Canada. Patents are in the sole jurisdiction of the federal government and is governed by the federal Patent Act.
A patent will give the inventor and its assignees the exclusive right to the construction, use and sale of the invention.[1]
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There are number of matters that cannot be patented. Among such matters include certain new plant matters[2], computer programs,[3] and medical treatments.[4]
The novelty of an invention is determined based on the construction of the claim. The court shall read the claim constructively.[5]
The claim is compared with other inventions to determine whether the invention has already been anticipated.[6] The test is whether a previous claim "contained all of the information which, for practical purposes, is needed to produce the claimed invention without the exercise of any inventive skill". The previous invention must be described in a single document that is generally available to the public.
The test for a non-obvious invention is whether an "unimaginative skilled technician, in light of his general knowledge and the literature and information on the subject available to him on that date, would have been led directly and without difficulty to [the] invention." [7]
The requirement for utility originates from the defintion of invention as a "new and useful art"[8] The requirement is generally easy to meet, however, it does limit the scope of protection by excluding methods that would not be useful.
- ^ Patent Act s. 42
- ^ Pioneer Hi‑Bred Ltd. v. Canada (Commissioner of Patents), [1989] 1 S.C.R. 1623
- ^ Schlumberger Canada Ltd. v. Commissioner of Patents (1981) 56 C.P.R. (2d) 204 (FCA)
- ^ Tennessee Eastman Co. v. Commissioner of Patents, [1974] S.C.R. 111
- ^ see Free World Trust v. Électro Santé Inc.
- ^ Beloit Canada Ltd. v. Valmet Oy (1986), 8 C.P.R. (3d) 289
- ^ Beecham Canada Ltd. v. Procter & Gamble Co., (1982) 61 C.P.R. (2d) 1 (F.C.A.) at 27
- ^ Patent Act, s.2
| Sources of law | Constitution, federal statutes, provincial statutes |  |
|---|---|---|
| Core areas of law | Constitutional law, Administrative law, Criminal law, Contract law, Tort law, Property law | |
| Other areas of law | Aboriginal law, Family law, Immigration and refugee law, Labour and employment law, Copyright law, Trade-mark law, Patent law | |
| Courts | Supreme Court, Federal Court (Appeal), Courts of Appeal, Superior courts, Provincial courts | |
| Education | Law school, Law School Admission Test, Call to the bar | |
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