CIPO fee increase and patent changes

Summary#

This is a government proposal to change the Patent Rules and other CIPO fee regulations. It would raise most fees by 25%, expand the patent “small entity” test from 50 to fewer than 100 employees, and is intended to prevent the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) from running out of money in September 2024 and to pay for IT and service improvements. The changes are proposed to come into force on January 1, 2024 if approved.

What it does#

• Raises most CIPO fees by 25% above the January 2024 levels.
• Keeps the lower patent fees for eligible small entities unchanged while expanding who can claim that status from companies with 50 or fewer employees to those with fewer than 100 employees.
• Exempts or treats differently some very low-value fees and certain newly introduced fees (for example, some fees introduced in October 2022 would not get the full 25% increase).
• Makes technical and wording fixes to the Patent Rules (clarifications about continued examination, late payment fees for international/PCT filings, and other housekeeping changes).
• The government’s cost–benefit analysis says the fee changes would generate about $284.7M in additional revenue (present value over 10 years) and a net impact of about $222.2M (present value).

Who's affected#

• CIPO itself: the changes aim to restore its financial stability and pay for IT and operational investments.
• Patent, trademark, industrial design and copyright applicants and owners — both Canadian and foreign. The analysis notes most patent activity and a large share of filings come from abroad.
• Small businesses and universities: the expanded “small entity” rule would let more firms pay reduced patent fees; however, fees for trademarks, designs and copyrights would still rise.
• Intellectual property agents and legal firms that file on behalf of clients, who will see fee schedules changed.
• If approved, fee changes would mostly be paid by applicants over time (the government’s analysis says foreign applicants would bear a large share of the increased costs).

Why it matters#

• CIPO says it faces a structural deficit and could be insolvent by September 2024 without new revenue. That could mean service cuts, longer delays, and postponed IT upgrades.
• The fee increase is intended to: fund necessary IT upgrades and staffing, create a cash buffer (CIPO cites a liability to clients of about $100M), and keep the office self-funded.
• For businesses and inventors, the increase would raise the cost of obtaining and maintaining IP in Canada, but CIPO argues the added fees are small compared with total development costs and are spread over many years. The office projects an average additional cost to small businesses of about $60.25 over the 10-year period (based on their modelling).
• The proposal is not law yet. It was published as a Part I notice (with a comment period), and would come into force on January 1, 2024 only if the regulations are finalized.