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Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 (S.C. 2018, c. 27)

Assented to 2018-12-13

PART 4Various Measures (continued)

DIVISION 7Intellectual Property Strategy (continued)

SUBDIVISION AR.S., c. P-4Patent Act (continued)

 Subsection 27(5) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Separate claims

    (5) For greater certainty, if a claim defines the subject-matter of an invention in the alternative, each alternative is a separate claim for the purposes of sections 2, 28.1 to 28.3, 56 and 78.3.

 Subsection 36(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Separate applications

    (4) A divisional application shall be deemed to be a separate and distinct application under this Act, to which its provisions apply as fully as may be, and separate fees shall be paid on the divisional application and, except for the purposes of subsections 27(6) and (7), it shall have the same filing date as the original application.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 52:

Standard-Essential Patents

Marginal note:Subsequent patentee or holder bound

  • 52.1 (1) A licensing commitment in respect of a standard-essential patent that binds the patentee, binds any subsequent patentee and any holder of any certificate of supplementary protection that sets out that patent.

  • Marginal note:Subsequent holder bound

    (2) If a certificate of supplementary protection sets out a standard-essential patent, a licensing commitment that binds the holder of that certificate of supplementary protection, binds any subsequent holder of the certificate of supplementary protection.

  • Marginal note:Application

    (3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply despite any other Act of Parliament and any decision or order made under such an Act.

Marginal note:Regulations

52.2 The Governor in Council may make regulations, for the purposes of section 52.1, respecting what constitutes, or does not constitute, a licensing commitment or a standard-essential patent.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 53:

Marginal note:Admissible in evidence

  • 53.1 (1) In any action or proceeding respecting a patent, a written communication, or any part of such a communication, may be admitted into evidence to rebut any representation made by the patentee in the action or proceeding as to the construction of a claim in the patent if

    • (a) it is prepared in respect of

      • (i) the prosecution of the application for the patent,

      • (ii) a disclaimer made in respect of the patent, or

      • (iii) a request for re-examination, or a re-examination proceeding, in respect of the patent; and

    • (b) it is between

      • (i) the applicant for the patent or the patentee; and

      • (ii) the Commissioner, an officer or employee of the Patent Office or a member of a re-examination board.

  • Marginal note:Divisional application

    (2) For the purposes of this section, the prosecution of a divisional application is deemed to include the prosecution of the original application before that divisional application is filed.

  • Marginal note:Reissued patent

    (3) For the purposes of this section, a written communication is deemed to be prepared in respect of the prosecution of the application for a reissued patent if it is prepared in respect of

    • (a) the prosecution of the application for the patent that was surrendered and from which the reissued patent results; or

    • (b) the application for reissuance.

 Subsection 55.2(6) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:For greater certainty

    (6) For greater certainty, subsection (1) does not affect any exception to the exclusive property or privilege granted by a patent that exists at law in respect of acts done privately and on a non-commercial scale or for a non-commercial purpose.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 55.2:

Marginal note:Exception — experimentation

  • 55.3 (1) An act committed for the purpose of experimentation relating to the subject-matter of a patent is not an infringement of the patent.

  • Marginal note:Regulations

    (2) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

    • (a) factors that the court may consider, must consider or is not permitted to consider in determining whether an act is, or is not, committed for the purpose set out in subsection (1); and

    • (b) circumstances in which an act is, or is not, committed for the purpose set out in subsection (1).

 Section 56 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Exception — prior use

  • 56 (1) Subject to subsection (2), if — before the claim date of a claim in a patent — a person, in good faith, committed an act that would otherwise constitute an infringement of the patent in respect of that claim, or made serious and effective preparations to commit such an act, it is not an infringement of the patent or any certificate of supplementary protection that sets out the patent, in respect of that claim, if the person commits the same act on or after that claim date.

  • Marginal note:Transfer

    (2) If the act referred to in subsection (1) is committed or the preparations to commit it are made in the course of a business and that business, or the part of that business in the course of which the act was committed or the preparations were made, is subsequently transferred,

    • (a) subsection (1) or paragraph (b), as the case may be, does not apply to an act committed by the transferor after the transfer; and

    • (b) it is not an infringement of the patent or any certificate of supplementary protection that sets out the patent, in respect of the claim, if the transferee commits the act after the transfer.

  • Marginal note:Exception — use or sale of article

    (3) The use or sale of an article is not an infringement of a patent or any certificate of supplementary protection that sets out the patent if that article was acquired, directly or indirectly, from a person who, at the time they disposed of it, could sell it without infringing the patent or the certificate

    • (a) because the person, before the claim date of a claim in the patent, in good faith, committed an act that would otherwise constitute an infringement of the patent in respect of that claim and they disposed of the article before that claim date; or

    • (b) under subsection (1) or paragraph (2)(b).

  • Marginal note:Exception — use of service

    (4) The use of a service is not an infringement of a patent if the service is provided by a person who, under subsection (1) or paragraph (2)(b), is able to provide it without infringing the patent.

  • Marginal note:Non-application

    (5) Subsection (1) or paragraph (3)(a) does not apply if the person referred to in that subsection or that paragraph was able, as the case may be, to commit the act or make the preparations to commit the act only because they obtained knowledge of the subject-matter defined by the claim, directly or indirectly, from the applicant of the application on the basis of which the patent was granted and they knew that the applicant was the source of the knowledge.

  • Marginal note:Exception — use of article

    (6) Subject to subsection (7), the use of an article is not an infringement of a patent or any certificate of supplementary protection that sets out the patent, in respect of a claim, if the article was acquired, directly or indirectly, from a person who, before the claim date of that claim, in good faith, made or sold, or made serious and effective preparations to make or sell, an article that is substantially the same as the one used, for that use.

  • Marginal note:Transfer

    (7) If the making or selling referred to in subsection (6) was done or the preparations to do so were made in the course of a business and that business, or the part of that business in the course of which the making or selling was done or the preparations were made, is subsequently transferred, then

    • (a) subsection (6) or paragraph (b), as the case may be, does not apply in respect of an article that is made or sold by the transferor after the transfer; and

    • (b) it is not an infringement of the patent or any certificate of supplementary protection that sets out the patent, in respect of a claim referred to in subsection (6), to use an article for the use referred to in that subsection if it was made or sold for that use by the transferee after the transfer.

  • Marginal note:Non-application

    (8) Subsection (6) does not apply if the person referred to in that subsection was able to make or sell, or to make the preparations to make or sell, the article only because they obtained knowledge of the use defined by the claim, directly or indirectly, from the applicant of the application on the basis of which the patent was granted and they knew that the applicant was the source of the knowledge.

  • Marginal note:Exception — use of service

    (9) Subject to subsection (10), the use of a service is not an infringement of a patent in respect of a claim if the service is provided by a person who, before the claim date of that claim, in good faith, provided, or made serious and effective preparations to provide, a service that is substantially the same as the one used, for that use.

  • Marginal note:Transfer

    (10) If the service referred to in subsection (9) was provided or the preparations to provide it were made in the course of a business and that business, or the part of that business in the course of which the service was provided or the preparations to do so were made, is subsequently transferred, then, after the transfer

    • (a) the transferor is deemed to no longer be the person referred to in subsection (9) for the purposes of that subsection; and

    • (b) the transferee is deemed to be the person who provided the service for the purposes of subsection (9).

  • Marginal note:Non-application

    (11) Subsection (9) does not apply if the person referred to in that subsection was able to provide the service or make the preparations to provide it only because they obtained knowledge of the use defined by the claim, directly or indirectly, from the applicant of the application on the basis of which the patent was granted and they knew that the applicant was the source of the knowledge.

 

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