Entrepreneurship in North America Canada vs. USA

Patents in Canada grant innovators a time-limited right to restrict others from developing, using, or selling their ideas. Canadian patents issued since 1989 are valid for 20 years from the date of application filing (subject to timely payment of charges) and cannot be renewed after that time. Certain pharmaceutical patents may be extended for up to two years, as indicated below. Patents in Canada can safeguard novel, useful, and innovative art, processes, machinery, manufactures, formulations, or improvements. Patents must be registered using the procedures described in the Patent Act. Canada has signed the Paris Convention, which promotes member countries to protect their patents, trademarks, and industrial designs on an international scale. The Paris Convention allows a patent application filed in another member country to be granted priority treatment if filed in Canada within a year. In Canada, the first person to file a patent application has priority over subsequent applicants. Patent applications are not available for public scrutiny until 18 months after filing.

Priority claims filed under the Paris Convention are published 18 months after the filing date

Foreign patent applicants do not need to engage a Canadian patent agent to pursue their patents. The Patent Office recommends engaging a Canadian patent agent to guarantee that the patent application complies with Canadian law. Recent changes to the Patent Act now safeguard communications between patent agents (including non-lawyer agents) and inventors/applicants under agent-client privilege. Foreign patent agents that satisfy certain conditions can also profit from this privilege. The Patent Act requires exclusive licensees to register with the Patent Office. Registration is not needed by law, however it is suggested. The assignment of a patent or application, whether in whole or in part, shall be documented with the Patent Office. A basic patent application, with a timely request for examination and no significant objections from the Patent Office, can take two to three years to issue (get a Notice of Allowance). In certain instances, applicants may request that their exams be expedited. Recent changes to the Patent Act have resulted in three key developments. The Patent Office now charges greater fees for filing more than 20 patent claims, in an effort to reduce the number of prosecutions. Fees are calculated when an examination is requested and again when the patent application is accepted. Third parties have the option to oppose the mark at this point. Third parties may file a statement of opposition within two months of the advertisement (three months if an extension is granted). If no opposition is filed by the deadline or the opposition is unsuccessful, the application will be registered.

Excess claim expenses are computed based on the number of pending claims in the patent

Application during the period between inspection request and final payment. To make the patent prosecution process easier, the Patent Office can now issue a Conditional Notice of Allowance for applications with minor flaws that must be corrected before granting the patent. After receiving a Notice of Allowance or Conditional Notice of Allowance, applicants can request an extended examination and pay a fee to revise their issued patent, such as adding claims or correcting errors. The 2019 modifications to Canada's T Association (WIPO) may necessitate other participating countries to file applications that designate Canada. The "Madrid applications" go through the same inspection process. If any flaws are discovered when reviewing the goods and services specifications, an automatic system sends the applicant a pre-assessment letter. The program does not identify any goods or services on the CIPO's approved specification list. The applicant may opt to modify their application to address the issue. After examining the application and pre-assessment, the AI program guarantees Trademarks Act compliance by reviewing the statement of goods and services, assessing uniqueness, and determining whether the mark is confusing with a senior mark. If the Examiner finds that the application is not registrable, they will issue a "office action" suggesting that the applicant provide additional information to address any problems. Once the Examiner approves the application and the mark becomes registrable, it will be published in the Canada Gazette. 

Trademark registrations are valid for ten years and can be renewed for a fee

An adverse party may request that a registration be removed from the Register if it has not been used in at least three years. Marks can be registered within 24 to 36 months of filing, if there are no significant hurdles in the examination process or opposition from other parties. CIPO thinks that the AI pre-assessment method will reduce the backlog, despite the longer timeline compared to other countries.  FATCA is designed to identify non-compliant US residents, particularly those who live overseas and have large assets in non-US accounts. The IRS will most likely contact reported non-compliant US people to get tax returns and pay the applicable taxes, interest, and penalties. Under the Treaty, the IRS may request assistance from the CRA in collecting overdue taxes owed by US persons living in Canada over the previous ten years. The CRA has made it clear, however, that this rule does not apply to the collection of penalties for FBAR information reporting. Furthermore, regardless of whether they were also US citizens, the CRA has stated that it will not assist in the recovery of any debts owed to the IRS by Canadian citizens at the time the debts were incurred. Non-compliant US citizens living in Canada have several options for staying current on their US tax filing requirements. The IRS issued the most recent Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP) for taxpayers living outside of the United States in July 2014. The processes require providing FBAR information over the last six years and submitting original or revised income tax returns for the previous three years. Program-authorized taxpayers are free from civil or criminal fines for late-filed information reporting forms, as well as failure-to-file or failure-to-pay penalties. Unpaid taxes, however, will continue to accrue interest.

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