Adds Truth and Reconciliation Holiday to IP Rules

Summary#

These final regulations, Regulations Amending Certain Department of Industry Regulations (Miscellaneous Program) (SOR/2022-44), add the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30) to lists of days when the federal intellectual property office is closed. They also fix a few small grammatical errors in the English text of the Patent Rules. The changes took effect on March 4, 2022.

What it does#

• Adds September 30 (the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) to the list of prescribed closed days in:
  • Patent Rules (section 5)
  • Trademarks Regulations (section 15)
  • Industrial Design Regulations (section 36)
• Clarifies that if September 30 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is treated as the non-working day for deadline purposes.
• Makes minor comma and wording corrections to paragraphs 5(c), 5(g), 5(h) and 5(l) of the English version of the Patent Rules.
• Confirms the regulations came into force on March 4, 2022.

Who's affected#

• Applicants and filers with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office — inventors, patent applicants, trademark applicants and industrial design applicants.
• Patent agents, trademark agents, and lawyers who file documents or calculate deadlines with the Office.
• Anyone who had a deadline that would have fallen on September 30 and needs to know whether that deadline is moved to the next business day.

Why it matters#

• It prevents confusion about filing deadlines on September 30 by officially listing the new statutory holiday as a closed day. Deadlines that fall on that date will be extended to the next business day, so people are less likely to miss important filings.
• The change is administrative and routine; it does not change substantive rights or add costs.