On Monday, 28-June-2021 The College of Patent Agents & Trademark Agents (CPATA or “the College”) took over from CIPO as the regulator of registered (now, “licensed”) Canadian patent and trademark agents. This post examines the current status of the College’s agent roster—which remains a work in progress.
Shortly before the College took over, CIPO’s agent roster looked like this:
On or before 31-March-2021 Canadian patent and trademark agents were required to pay an annual fee to CIPO to maintain their entitlement to practice before CIPO. The fee for trademark agents was $306 if paid online or $357 otherwise. The fee for patent agents was $357.
When the College became operational, each agent had to pay the College an additional $700 fee plus applicable taxes to maintain their practice entitlement for the remainder of 2021. For those who are both patent and trademark agents, the College’s fee for the remainder of 2021 was $1,050 plus applicable taxes. Failure to meet the College’s payment deadline exposed the agent’s licence(s) to suspension as discussed below.
On 12-October-2021 the College’s agent roster looked like this, based on the License Class category (click to enlarge the image):
As mentioned, the College’s agent roster is something of a work in progress. For example:
- The “Trademark Agent” and “Class 1 - Active Trademark Agent” categories should be consolidated into one category.
- The “Class 2 - Inactive Patent Agent” and “Class 2 Inactive Patent Agent” categories should be consolidated into one category. (Class 2 agents transferred from Active to Inactive status by paying the College a reduced fee of $150 plus applicable taxes.)
- The “Class 2 - Inactive Trademark Agent” and “Class 2 Inactive Trademark Agent” categories should be consolidated into one category.
- The “Class 3 - Patent Agent in Training” and “Class 3 Patent Agent in Training” categories should be consolidated into one category.
- The “Class 3 - Trademark Agent in Training” and “Class 3 Trademark Agent in Training” categories should be consolidated into one category.
- One agent’s CPATA Number is the word “Apple”, which does not conform to the pattern exhibited by other agents’ numbers, e.g. 2021-0002, 2021-0003, 2021-0004, etc.
Based on the License Status category, the College’s agent roster looked like this on 12-October-2021 (click to enlarge the image):
The “Surrendered” category pertains to agents who have withdrawn from practice by paying the College a $250 fee plus applicable taxes and making the Declarations set forth in the College’s Request to Surrender a Licence Application Form. As of 12-October-2021, 1 patent agent and 13 trademark agents have surrendered their licences according to the College’s agent roster lookup tool (here).
The “Suspended” category pertains to agents who did not pay the College’s fees to maintain their practice entitlement for the remainder of 2021. As of 12-October-2021, the licences of 8 patent agents and 34 trademark agents have been suspended. Suspended agents have 2 years to seek reinstatement of their licenses by paying the College a $150 fee plus applicable taxes and making the Declarations set forth in the College’s Reinstatement Form. The College’s Bylaws require the Registrar to revoke a licence that has been suspended for at least five (5) consecutive years.
Query whether members of the public will readily comprehend the Licence Status category, pursuant to which some agents have “Active Inactive” licences. For example:
- 37 agents have “Active” licenses in the “Class 2 - Inactive Patent Agent” License Class.
- 12 agents have “Active” licenses in the “Class 2 Inactive Patent Agent” License Class.
- 59 agents have “Active” licenses in the “Class 2 - Inactive Trademark Agent” License Class.
- 12 agents have “Active” licenses in the “Class 2 Inactive Trademark Agent” License Class.
- 1 agent has an “Inactive” license in the “Class 2 Inactive Trademark Agent” License Class.
The lookup tool accompanying CIPO’s agent roster facilitated agent lookups by Province. The lookup tool accompanying the College’s agent roster currently only facilitates City-based agent lookups. However, a simple transformation yields this provincial distribution of the College’s agent roster as of 12-October-2021 (click to enlarge the image):
It is understood that the College is continuing to refine the agent roster.
