As of June 28, 2021 the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents (CPATA) is now the regulator of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents in Canada. The CPATA is responsible for:
- Ensuring people entering the profession meet the College's standards for professional competence and ethics. To do that they:
- Set competency standards for those who want to be licensed as an agent
- Require trainee agents to work with an experienced agent for two years, and
- Pass an examination to ensure the applicant meets their entry level competence standards
- Issuing patent or trademark licenses and requiring that the license be renewed each year. License fees fund their operations.
- Setting ethical and practice standards for agents and enforcing them through a variety of techniques, including advisory and support services, and a complaints and discipline system if necessary.
- Once fully operational, the College will require licensees to have mandatory professional liability insurance, and will require them to take appropriate steps to demonstrate they remain competent.
- The College plans to work with the profession to encourage equity and diversity in the profession, to make the services of agents more widely available to support innovation in the Canadian economy, and to support innovation in the way patent and trademark agents do their work, and the way intellectual property rights are protected in Canada.
To learn more about the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents visit their website here.
IPIC has prepared a FAQ regarding the College. Please click here to view and to learn more.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has also prepared a Q&A regarding the College. Please visit their website to learn more.
June 23, 2021:
An important milestone has been reached in a decades long effort to establish a College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents (CPATA) to regulate the agency profession in Canada. Today, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) published the final regulations to guide the work of the CPATA within Canada Gazette Part II. Additionally, an Order in Council has been passed concerning the College’s coming into force date. As of this Monday, June 28th, 2021, Patent Agents and Trademark Agents will have a regulatory body and self-governance framework within Canada. As of then, the College will assume full responsibility from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) for all aspects of professional regulation of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents. The CPATA website is currently under development: https://cpata-cabamc.ca/. In the meantime, you can reach the College CEO by email at ceo@cpata-cabamc.ca.
You can read IPIC's full announcement regarding the College Regulations here.
Understanding that many IPIC members would likely have questions about the CPATA regulations, the Ministerial Code of Conduct Regulation, and the consequential amendments to the Patent Rules and the Trademarks Regulations, IPIC offered a free webinar for all members on Tuesday July 13 from 1:00pm to 2:30pm ET.
