REGISTRATION DEADLINE: MAY 1, 2025

This module of the Patent Agent Training Course is a 10-week advanced, practical program intended to enhance the patent agent trainees’ skills relevant to drafting and prosecution and to help prepare a candidate for CPATA’s Qualifying Examinations: the Patent Knowledge Exam and the Patent Agent Skills Exam.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE FOR CPATA'S PATENT KNOWLEDGE EXAM

This feature provides students with the opportunity to complete a series of multiple-choice questions in preparation for the Patent Knowledge Exam which evaluates the patent-related, knowledge-based technical competencies specified in the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents Technical Competencies.

Modeled after the CPATA exam format, this study tool is a great way for candidates to test their readiness for the Knowledge Exam.

CURRICULUM AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This Patent Agent Training Course is an advanced, practical program intended to enhance the patent agent trainees’ skills relevant to drafting and prosecution and to increase their chances of success in the Canadian Qualifying Patent Agent Examination.

SECTION 1 | DRAFTING 

The drafting section will present what is required to be contained in Canadian patent applications, and several multi-faceted approaches to professionally preparing patent applications for clients. By completing this section, participants will have collectively taken part in several patent claim preparation exercises and discussions with instructors, and will be equipped with the basic knowledge to identify and articulate an invention, advise clients on the amounts and kinds of information required to prepare a patent application for the invention, prepare commercially-useful patent claims, and structure a specification of a patent application appropriate to the invention and the claims. Participants will spend significant time studying, discussing, and participating in the drafting of patent claims. Learning objectives include:

• Understanding the purposes of inventor interviews, techniques for conducting them, and the kinds of outcomes that should be sought when doing so.
• Learning, in the context of given facts and the client goals, how to both identify and assess inventive concepts and prospective infringers.
• Understanding the nature of and purposes for different kinds and styles of patent claims, such as claims directed to: a system, an apparatus, a method, a use, a product-by-process, and several others.
• Understanding how to use claim language to simultaneously satisfy several claim requirements, including the requirements of novelty, non-obviousness, utility, clarity, and definiteness.
• Learning techniques for avoiding statements of desired result in a claim while retaining a commercially-useful scope.
• Understanding the inherently iterative, and sometimes trial-and-error, nature of effective claim drafting, by participating in several practical, in-depth claim drafting case studies and related group discussions.
• Learning about structuring a claim set, including the use of both independent and dependent claims, the principle of claim differentiation, and examination-ready fallback positions.
• Learning other parts of a patent application, including the title, field, background, detailed description, drawings, and abstract, and their respective purposes, levels of detail, and relationships to the other parts including to the claims.
• Learning various tips for enhancing patent readability, honing in on the level of descriptive detail appropriate to the person of ordinary skill in the art, and formal requirements such as consistency of term and phrase usages and the appropriate use of reference numerals.
• Learning tips and techniques for writing the drafting skills component of the patent agent qualifying examinations.

SECTION 2 | PROSECUTION

The prosecution section will present the core requirements for the filing and prosecution of Canadian patent applications, and several options and considerations a professional patent agent should take into account when doing so. By completing this section, participants will be equipped with the basic knowledge to file regular, national phase or divisional applications in compliance with the Patent Act and Rules, to properly handle matters of inventorship, ownership and representation, to recover applications from abandonment, to expedite or delay examination, to understand and respond to office actions, and to handle final actions and allowances. Learning objectives include: 

• Understanding requirements for compliant patent application filings, including deadlines and priority claims.
• Understanding differences in submission and completion requirements for regular Canadian patent applications, Canadian national phase entry patent applications, and divisional patent applications.
• Understanding issues relating to patent inventorship and ownership, small entities, ownership transfers, patent agent appointments/revocations, and common representatives.
• Learning general processes and tools of examination, including requests for examination, advanced examination, the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), office actions, requisitions, deadlines, extensions of time, and requests for continued examination.
• Understanding issues relating to application abandonment and reinstatement, including requests for reinstatement that require the showing of due care.
• Understanding the due care standard, and how it is applied by the Canadian IP Office.
• Understanding contents of office actions, including the most common kinds of rejections and objections, and what to consider and include when preparing office action responses and amendments, including the duty of good faith.
• Learning options that are available after a Final Rejection has been issued in an application, including a general overview of the appeal process before the Patent Appeal Board.
• Understanding handling of a patent application after allowance.
• Learning tips and techniques for writing the prosecution skills component of the patent agent qualifying examinations.

COURSE FORMAT

The delivery of this online course includes virtual lectures and workshops during the first week and asynchronous over eight weeks.

 VIRTUAL LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS: MAY 7 – 9 | 2025
 1:00 - 4:30 PM (ET) | DAILY

Course instructors will walk students through several hands-on exercises covering key principles of claim drafting.

** Students are required to attend the virtual lectures and workshops during the designated times.

 DISTANCE EDUCATION: MAY 12 - JULY 11 | 2025

The initial lectures will be followed by eight weeks of practice exercises, consisting of one exercise per week submitted via e-mail to an instructor for review. These exercises will involve approximately five hours of work per week and are mandatory to obtain an attestation of course completion.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES

To obtain the optimum benefits from the course it is recommended that students have at least one year of experience or training in the areas of Canadian patent drafting and prosecution. 

TUITION FEES

IPIC Member: $2,600 plus applicable tax
Non Member: $3,400 plus applicable tax
Registration Deadline: May 1, 2025

Cancellation Policy: A cancellation fee of $100 (plus applicable tax) will be applied to cancellations received after April 21, 2025. Refunds will not be issued after April 28, 2025.

Financial aid may be available for students whose tuition fees are not paid by an employer. Applicants will be considered on the basis of their gross annual income. Please contact the IPIC office at education@ipic.ca or 613-234-0516.

IPIC reserves the right to cancel the course due to insufficient registration.

ATTESTATION OF COURSE COMPLETION

Students who complete and submit all eight practice exercises will receive an attestation of completion at the end of the course.

NEXT STEPS IN PREPARING FOR CPATA’S 2025 PATENT AGENT SKILLS EXAM

IPIC will offer the Patent Agent Exam Tutorials, July 21 to September 12, 2025, consisting in a sample examination to test candidates’ readiness for the CPATA’s Skills Exam. 

Students who complete at least one module of the 2025 Patent Agent Training Course will receive a 15% discount on the 2025 Patent Agent Exam Tutorials tuition fees at the time they register for the Tutorials.

INQUIRIES

For more information on the course:
education@ipic.ca
613-234-0516

Program subject to change.