The commercial and manufacturing interests of Canada are extensive, increasing yearly, and are closely knit with our own. If the invention is not protected in Canada, it is sometimes manufactured there and sent here without paying royalty to the inventor.
Copies of the "Rules and Forms of the Canadian Patent Office" and "The Patent Act" can be obtained upon application to the Hon. Commissioner of Patents, Ottawa, Canada. Section 8 of the Patent Act, revised May, 1898, provides:
"Any inventor who elects to obtain a patent for his invention in a foreign country before obtaining a patent for the same invention in Canada, may[p. 74] obtain a patent in Canada, if the same be applied for within one year from the date of the issue of the first foreign patent for such invention; and,
"If within three months after the date of the issue of a foreign patent, the inventor give notice to the Commissioner of his intention to apply for a patent in Canada for such invention, then no other person having commenced to manufacture the same device in Canada during such period of one year, shall be entitled to continue the manufacture of the same after the inventor has obtained a patent therefor in Canada, without the consent or allowance of the inventor."
The Patent Act as amended does not now require a Canadian patent to expire at the earliest date at which a foreign patent for the same invention expires.
Under the section just cited the patentee has three months, after the issue of his patent, within which to protect his interests in Canada. If within these three months he has not sufficiently demonstrated the commercial value of his home patent, and the advisability of taking out a Canadian patent, he is advised to give notice to the Commissioner of Patents, Ottawa, of his intention of doing so, which will fully protect his interests for one year, as under the above provision; and if the patentee fail to give this formal notice, he cannot obtain redress from any person who has[p. 75] commenced to manufacture his invention in Canada during the year.
There is also an advantage sometimes in giving this formal notice within three months and delaying the grant of the patent for one year, as the patentee is allowed to import the patented article into Canada during one year only, after the grant of the Canadian patent.
The construction or manufacturing of the invention in Canada must be commenced within two years from the date of the patent, and continuously carried on from that time, though the extension of this time may be secured upon timely application to the Commissioner, giving any good and proper reason. The time for importation is also sometimes extended upon proper application.
Canadian patents are granted originally for a term of eighteen years, the Government fee being $60 for the eighteen years, but at the election of the patentee this fee may be divided into three payments of $20 each, as follows: $20 at the time of the grant, $20 at the expiration of the sixth year, if the owner desires to keep the patent alive, if not he can allow the patent to become forfeited; and at the end of the twelfth year, if it is still desired to maintain the patent, the remaining fee of $20 may be paid. If the patentee in the meantime assigns his patent, the assignee will pay the required government fees at the end of the sixth[p. 76] and twelfth years, if it is desired to maintain its validity.
The Canadian patent covers and affords full protection in the following provinces: