COVID-19 Update – Canadian Intellectual Property Office Extends Deadline to May 19

Dear Clients,

Further to our earlier communication concerning the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) extending deadlines to May 1, 2020, we report that CIPO has now extended its deadline to May 19. Any deadline falling between March 16 and May 15, 2020 will be designated under the Patent Act, Trademarks Act and Industrial Design Act as a day where any time period ending on one of those dates is extended to the next day. This means that, effectively, any deadlines for Canadian applications falling within that period are extended to May 19, 2020 as May 18, 2020 is a statutory holiday in Canada. Further details can be found in CIPO’s Important update on CIPO operations and services.

We will continue to watch the situation with CIPO closely and if there are any further changes to its operations and services, we will let you know.

In the meantime, we wish all of our clients and colleagues, their families and friends to stay safe during these difficult times.

Stephen Beney
Managing Partner