How to file your patent with the patent office (Canadian Patent Office CIPO)

Once you have completed the patent specification, you will want to file the application with a single patent office as a priority application. Then you have one year in which to file the same patent application in all other countries in which you are seeking protection, while claiming priority to the earlier application. If you do not file in other countries by the one-year mark, you will lose rights to the invention in those countries.

To get a filing date in the Canadian Patent Office (CIPO), you will need to provide, at the time of filing:

1. a request for a patent grant
2. the name and address of the applicant
3. the specification, and
4. the appropriate filing fee ($400 for standard entity or $200 for small entity)

Please note that with a small entity fee, you must also file a statement that you believe yourself to be a small entity under the Patent Rules. Here's some boilerplate:

"The applicant believes that in accordance with the Patent Rules they are entitled to pay fees at the small entity level in respect of this application and in respect of any patent issued on the basis of this application."

This is true for applications first filed in Canada, Convention Priority applications filed in Canada, originating in the US for example, and PCT National Phase entries in Canada. For completion of the application, you must also file:

1. a petition (a form can be found here)
2. an abstract
3. a set of claims

The petition contains some further requirements:

• a declaration that the applicant is the legal representative of the inventor, or that the applicant is the inventor,
• the small entity declaration discussed above, and
• an appointment of agent

so it's recommended that the petition is filed with the application.

That's about it. Once you have filed the specification, petition and fee, then you should receive a Filing Certificate in 4 - 8 weeks. If it's a National Phase application from a PCT, then it's helpful to include a copy of the first page of the PCT. If the format does not meet the requirements, you'll receive a request to amend the specification to comply.