Steps and Procedure for getting Patent in Canada

Steps and Procedure for getting Patent in Canada

“Procedure for obtaining a patent in Canada has the following steps: capturing your idea for creating complete invention disclosure, conducting a patentability search, drafting a patent application, filing the application, publication of application, examination, Office action, responding to objections, and grant of the patent.”

Table of Contents

Step 1: Going from idea to complete invention disclosure

Every invention has its beginning in an Idea. In this phase, you capture your idea properly, get clarity on each element of the innovative idea, and fill-in the blank spots with appropriate research and experiment.

from idea to invention disclosure

Preliminary search: this search is for finding answers to questions that build a working disclosure or comprehensive invention disclosure.

  • What problem my invention is intended to solve? How does it work?
  • What are the elements or components of my invention ?
  • Can I draw a block diagram or device or flowchart or sketch that explains my invention in a better way ?
  • How the elements or components are inter connected
  • How each element is functioning in accordance with other element
  • Can I search and collect information about all elements, parts or component of my invention so that there are no blank spots.

This is the most important phase for the inventor where we go from an idea stage to a working invention disclosure that can be discussed with a patent agent or attorney. we have a complete section about actions to take and worksheets Refer to the section Step 1 : from idea to invention disclosure.

Include drawings, diagrams, or sketches explaining the working of the invention. they play an important role in understanding your invention. Once you have your innovative idea completely captured with all technical details, then you perform a preliminary search.

Visit our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Patentattorneyworldwide

The outcome : of this step is a complete invention disclosure that covers all aspects of your invention without any missing elements or blank spots.

for more details, you may watch the video on what is exact information needed to file a patent application: creating complete invention disclosure

Stage-wise Cost for getting a patent in Canada 

  • Novelty Search CAD 333 to CAD 533 or (USD 250 to USD 400)
  • Non-provisional Patent drafting CAD 1334 to CAD 2000 or (USD 1000 to USD 1500)
  • and after 1 to 2 years for responding to office actions if any objections are received in an examination report, such response to office actions typically requires CAD 667 to CAD 1334 or (USD 500 to USD 1000)

Step 2: Patentability search or Novelty search (optional step)

In this step, a comprehensive search is conducted to find out whether your invention meets patentability criteria in Canada which are : 

The patentability search is aimed towards finding out the novelty and non-obviousness of the invention, the search identifies the closes possible prior arts (known to the public) relating to your invention, and based on the results obtained an opinion about the patentability of your invention may be provided by patent agent or attorney. The patentability opinion may be positive, negative, or neutral.

A positive patentability opinion indicates you stand a good chance to get your patent granted for your invention. This search (novelty or patetability) saves us from filing patent for an invention for which 100% overlapping prior arts are readily available to public. in such cases the patentability search would give a negative opinion. The patentability report and opinion helps you decide whether to go ahead with the filing of a patent or not, chances are what you thought as a novel might already have been patented or known to the public.

Novelty search or patentability search report saves lots of time, efforts and cost for you preventing you from filing an invention which is not Novel. therefore although optional it is a recommended step in patent procedure. For more details on this Refer section on ” novelty search or patentability search ”

Cost of patentability search : the professional fees for a Patent attorney can range from CAD 333 to CAD 533 or (USD 250 to USD 400)

Time required for patentability search : the time required is about 5-7 working days

Why patentability search or Novelty search is recommended (although optional step) ?

  • The novel aspect of the invention identified via patentability search can be leveraged while writing patent application and especially claims of patent such that our patent application stands a good chance going through the examination stage to a granted patent.
  • In case the patentability opinion is negative, then it saves a lot of cost and time which would have unnecessarily invested in proceeding with the patent filing process and eventually getting the patent application rejected. 
  • It helps you in taking decision whether to proceed with patent filing or not and estimating chances of getting patent for your invention.

Step 3: Patent drafting / Patent writing

A patent is a techno-legal document, that means patent has technical as well as legal aspects to it. Patent drafting / patent writing is a specialized job, it requires years of practice and experience with patent law as well as an understanding of the field of the invention, along with general understanding of case-laws and overall rules and regulations in patent prosecution to be able to draft a good patent application.

There are many rules and care to be taken while drafting claims, writing detailed descriptions, writing different embodiment of the invention, describing inventive step etc… which a first-timer or inexperienced patent writer may miss and hence end up not getting proper protection for invention (or sometimes even rejection of patent). Writing patent as a project report or a technical thesis (on your own ) and submitting it to patent office would be a mistake which can cause loss of opportunity to patent your invention.

To get a quick understanding, you may quickly read some granted patents from your field (domain) and realize that it is a complex document and it completely defers from a thesis or a project report written with ordinary skills.

A good patent application should :

Writing a good patent application is one of the most important step in life cycle of a patent and a good patent application written by an experienced patent agent / attorney should survive not only through the examination phase till the grant of patent but also it should survive the commercialization phase where actual money is made by licensing or selling patent rights, where competitors should not be able to work around your patent.

Writing such patent application is a skill and it is explained in detail in our section on “writing patent application (patent drafting)”

Cost of patent drafting in Canada : The cost of drafting a patent application in Canada is dependent on multiple factors like field of invention and complexity and the cost can range from CAD 1334 to CAD 2000 or (USD 1000 to USD 1500)

Cost of drafting Patent application in Canada:

Simple inventionComplex inventionVery complex invention
CAD 1334
or USD 1000		CAD 1600
or USD 1200		CAD 2000
or USD 1500

Time required to draft a patent application in Canada: it takes about 1 to 2 weeks time for a patent attorney to draft an application for an invention. It certainly can take more time based on complexity, length of the detailed description, and availability of patent attorney’s time.

Step 4: Filing a patent application

When you are ready with the well-drafted patent application, you can file it in Canadian intellectual property office CIPO.

Government or official fees for filing patent application in Canada is :

Small entityStandard fees
Patent application feesCAD 210.51CAD 421.02

the details about patent filing are explained in the section “filing patent application”

The patents are territorial in nature, so if you file patent in Canada, you are getting protection in Canada only. You cannot stop use of invention outside Canada.

Therefore, if you desire that your invention should be protected in multiple countries, depending on your preference of countries different options, paths, and strategies for filing a patent application is to be adopted with the guidance of a patent agent/attorney. you may read further details at Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application.

Step 5: Publication of application

Generally, non provisional Patent application is published after the expiry of 18 months from the earliest filing date, however if requested by applicant the director may publish the patent application earlier than end of 18 month period. When a Canadian patent application is published, the patent application is made publicly available for download along with its file history.

Step 6: Examination of Patent Application

When a request for examination is received by CIPO, your patent application is eximined to check if it meets all the requirement and if it can be granted. the patent application is not automatically examined, we need to make request for examination either at the time of filing patent application or within 4 Years from the filing date.

Request for examination Fees for patent in Canada is :

Small entityStandard fees
Request for examination FeesCAD 408.00CAD 816.00

Time required for examination of application: CIPO takes the application for examination (in about 12-36 months). The examination of patent application is a complicated process and may take more than 2 years. You can get examination done sooner by expediting your patent application.

Step 7: Response to objections

The majority of patent applicants (inventors) will receive some type of objections based on the examination report. The objections raised on your patent application would be communicated with you, by official letter from the CIPO, known as an Office Action. You would get the opportunity to respond, make amendments or contest the objections raised within a given time.

working with patent attorney in Canada
working with patent attorney

The best thing to do is analyze the examination report with the patent agent/attorney and create a response to the objections raised in the examination report.

Office action refers to the written document issued by the CIPO to highlight the examiner’s review of a patent application. in general, the information in office action communicates the acceptance or rejection of claims and residing reasons, prior arts, or any other specific reasons for its rejection.

Timelines of examination report and Response to objects

  • the examination report is shared to you after approximately 14 months from the request for examination.
  • The time to repond to examination report is upto 4 months from the date of mailing examination report.
  • if you have requested for accelerated processing of application then you will get examination report within 3 months from examination and, you have 4 months to respond.
  • after your response it takes 5 to 9 months to consider your application.

Writing a response to an Office action is a chance for invetor (with the help of patent agent/attorney) to argue about the patentability of the application and comparative analysis (differentiation) of cited prior arts or some times comply to objections received by amending the patent application and making required changes so that the patent application would be granted.

 Responsibilities
Inventorhelp the patent agent in technical matters of the invention (If required) with drafting response for objections.
Patent agent or attorneydraft the response to objections raised with the help of inventor. Or amend the patent application accordingly. Request for hearing if desired.
Patent officereceive a response of objections and decide whether a hearing is needed and whether to grant patent or not

Professional Fees: The patent agent /attorney fee is CAD 667 to CAD 1334 or (USD 500 to USD 1000) for response to office action depending upon complexity, subject matter and number of objections.

Step 8: Grant of patent / Notice of Allowance

If the examiner determines that your application is in satisfactory condition and meets the requirements, you will receive a Notice of Allowance.

The notice of allowance will list the issue fee and may also include the publication fee that must be paid prior to the Patent being issued. The patent grant is mailed on the issue date of the patent.

If your patent application is allowed, you’ll be sent a notice of allowance that will ask for the final fee, as well as an excess page fee of $6.12 for each page of the specification and drawings after 100 pages. If you do not pay the final fee by your deadline (4 months from the mailing date of the notice), your patent application is deemed abandoned.

Final fees in Canada is :

Small entityStandard fees
Final FeesCAD 153.00CAD 306.00

Selecting right patent attorney for your invention

for more information on selecting the right patent attorney in Europe to work with and regarding deciding whether to go for a most expensive attorney or the most economical attorney for patenting your invention check our section on

Prasad Karhad
Latest posts by Prasad Karhad (see all)