Status Update 3-Years Post-CIF

This post examines the status—as of  CIPO’s 20 June 2022 data refresh—of the 223,208 applications CIPO has received over the past three years since coming into force (CIF) of the 17 June 2019 amendments to the Trademarks Act, RSC 1985 c. T-13.

The Pre-Assessment Problem

Practitioners and applicants alike have expressed dismay and dissatisfaction with CIPO’s pre-assessment initiative, which began on March 23, 2022.

Pre-Assessment Data Disconformity

There is a disconformity between some pre-assessment letter details presented via CIPO’s online trademark database and those presented in CIPO’s trademark .xml data.  Hundreds of applications appear to be affected.