Major amendments to Canada's Industrial Design Act and corresponding Regulations are scheduled to come into force on November 5th, bringing Canadian design law into line with the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (Hague Agreement).

As we reported previously , the updated Act will enable Canadians - by way of the Hague Agreement - to obtain industrial design registrations in multiple countries with a single international application filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The new Act and Regulations will also align Canada's industrial design laws with international standards in a number of respects, including:

  • codifying a "novelty" test to replace the previous "originality" test;
  • allowing domestic priority; and
  • changing the registration term to the later of 10 years from the date of registration and 15 years from filing.

More information on these provisions is available here.

Complementing the updated Act and Regulations, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has published an updated Industrial Design Office Practice Manual (IDOP), which will go into effect on the same day. The IDOP is the primary public source for information on how to prosecute an application for the registration of an industrial design, and serves to clarify the internal office practices and procedures of CIPO's Industrial Design Office for applicants and their agents.

According to a recent press release , the new IDOP "sets out how CIPO will operationalize the legislative and regulatory changes necessary for Canada to accede to the Hague Agreement."

Gowling WLG's Intellectual Property Group continues to monitor these updates closely. For more information about how these changes could present new opportunities for your business, please contact any member of our team.