Patent Rules

5 (1) Correspondence intended for the Commissioner or the Patent Office shall be addressed to the “Commissioner of Patents”.

(2) Correspondence addressed to the Commissioner may be physically delivered to the Patent Office during ordinary business hours of the Office and shall be considered to be received by the Commissioner on the day of the delivery.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), where correspondence addressed to the Commissioner is physically delivered to the Patent Office outside of its ordinary business hours, it shall be considered to have been delivered to the Office during ordinary business hours on the day when the Office is next open for business.

(4) Correspondence addressed to the Commissioner may be physically delivered to an establishment that is designated by the Commissioner in the Canadian Patent Office Record as an establishment to which correspondence addressed to the Commissioner may be delivered, during ordinary business hours of that establishment, and

• (a) where the delivery is made to the establishment on a day that the Patent Office is open for business, the correspondence shall be considered to be received by the Commissioner on that day; and

• (b) where the delivery is made to the establishment on a day that the Patent Office is closed for business, the correspondence shall be considered to be received by the Commissioner on the day when the Office is next open for business.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), where correspondence addressed to the Commissioner is physically delivered to an establishment outside of ordinary business hours of the establishment, it shall be considered to have been delivered to that establishment during ordinary business hours on the day when the establishment is next open for business.

(6) Correspondence addressed to the Commissioner may be sent at any time by electronic or other means of transmission specified by the Commissioner in the Canadian Patent Office Record.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6), where, according to the local time of the place where the Patent Office is located, the correspondence is delivered on a day when the Office is open for business, it shall be considered to be received by the Commissioner on that day.

(8) For the purposes of subsection (6), where, according to the local time of the place where the Patent Office is located, the correspondence is delivered on a day when the Office is closed for business, it shall be considered to be received by the Commissioner on the day when the Office is next open for business.