Patent Rules (SOR/96-423)

• 172. (1) The Commissioner shall refuse to take cognizance of any document submitted to the Commissioner that is not in the English or French language unless the applicant submits to the Commissioner a translation of the document into one of those languages.

• (2) If the applicant provides a translation of a document into either English or French in accordance with subsection (1) and the Commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that the translation is not accurate, the Commissioner shall requisition the applicant to provide either

  • (a) a statement by the translator to the effect that, to the best of the translator’s knowledge, the translation is complete and faithful, or

  • (b) a new translation together with a statement by the translator to the effect that, to the best of the translator’s knowledge, the new translation is complete and faithful.

• (3) The text matter of the abstract, the description, the drawings and the claims, individually and all together, shall be wholly in English or wholly in French.

• 173. (1) The description shall not incorporate by reference another document.

• (2) The description shall not refer to a document that does not form part of the application unless the document is available to the public.

• (3) Any document referred to in the description shall be fully identified.

• 174. (1) Claims must be complete independently of any document referred to in the description.

• (2) Every claim must be fully supported by the description.

• (3) Reference may be made in a claim to a preceding claim or claims.

• 175. (1) An application shall contain an abstract that provides technical information and that cannot be taken into account for the purpose of interpreting the scope of protection sought or obtained.

• (2) The abstract shall consist of a brief technical statement of the description indicative of the utility of the invention and the manner in which the invention is distinguishable from other inventions.

176. Any trade-mark that is mentioned in the application shall be identified as such.

• 177. (1) Drawings furnished in support of an application shall comply with the following requirements:

  • (a) every sheet shall have a clear margin of at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) on all sides;

  • (b) every drawing shall be prepared with clear black lines;

  • (c) all views on the same sheet shall stand in the same direction and, if possible, stand so that a shorter side of the sheet is the bottom but if a view longer than the width of a sheet is necessary, it may stand so that the right-hand longer side of the sheet becomes the bottom, and if a view longer than the length of a sheet is necessary, it may be divided between two or more sheets;

  • (d) all views shall be on a sufficiently large scale so as to be easily read and shall be separated by sufficient spaces to keep them distinct but shall not be on a larger scale or separated by greater spaces than is necessary for such purposes;

  • (e) section lines, lines for effect and shading lines shall be as few as possible and shall not be closely drawn;

  • (f) reference characters shall be clear and distinct and not less than 0.3 cm (1/8 inch) in height;

  • (g) the same reference character shall be used for the same part in different views and shall not be used to designate different parts;

  • (h) a reference character should not be placed on a shaded surface, but if it is so placed a blank space shall be left in the shading where it appears;

  • (i) the views shall be numbered consecutively throughout without regard to the number of sheets; and

  • (j) nothing shall appear on a sheet except the drawings and the reference characters and legends pertaining to the drawings.

• (2) Drawings shall be delivered to the Commissioner free of folds, breaks, creases or other imperfections.