2022 Trend Chart Updates

Having closed the books on 2022, we can update some trend charts with the 2022 data.

2022 Filings by Type / Class / Category / Status

This post provides a mark type / class / category / status breakdown of the 68,001 trademark applications¹ CIPO received in 2022.

2022 Agent vs. no Agent Filings

CIPO received 68,001 trademark applications¹ in 2022.  This post breaks them down² in terms of filings which either do or do not appoint an agent—for all filings, Madrid filings and non-Madrid filings respectively.

2022 Agent Rankings

CIPO received 68,001 trademark applications¹ in 2022.  This post ranks them as of 31-Dec-2022 in terms of the number of appointments per agent on behalf of: (1) all applicants, (2) Canadian resident applicants and (3) non-Canadian resident applicants.

Divisionals

Canadian trademark divisional applications are surprisingly rare, given their potential utility.

Canada’s Madrid Ghosts

With Halloween almost upon us it is timely to consider ghosts; specifically, ghost writers.

Agent Name or Address Changes

CIPO’s trademark data release for the week ended 10-Oct-2022 contained 129,660 .xml files¹.  Many of those files updated marks that have been inactive for decades.  Why update an inactive mark?

Pre-Assessment and the Unexamined Application Backlog

CIPO has sent 134,229 pre-assessment letters between 23-Mar-2022 and 19-Sep-2022.  Where are these pre-assessed applications in terms of CIPO’s backlog of cases awaiting substantive examination?

No, CIPO is not done with pre-assessment

In Is CIPO Done With Pre-Assessment? I suggested that CIPO may have paused—or possibly terminated—its pre-assessment initiative, since only 521 pre-assessment letters were sent two weeks ago, none being sent after 28-Jul-2022.  However CIPO’s weekly trademark .xml data release for 02-Aug-2022 through 08-Aug-2022 reveals another 869 pre-assessment letters—all dated 04-Aug-2022.

Is CIPO Done With Pre-Assessment?

CIPO’s weekly trademark .xml data release for 26-Jul-2022 through 01-Aug-2022 reveals that only 521 pre-assessment letters were sent in that period.  None were sent after 28-Jul-2022.  This suggests that CIPO may have paused—or possibly terminated—the pre-assessment initiative.

Pre-Assessment vs. Examination

Examination reports have issued on 1,138 applications which have undergone goods / services description pre-assessment (as of 11-Jul-2022).  This does not necessarily imply that CIPO is accelerating examination of pre-assessed applications.

Trademark Pre-assessment Letters

In a 6-Apr-2022 email sent to subscribers to its Canadian Trademark News, CIPO announced “...the use of automated analysis related to goods, services and Nice classification information to help decrease the inventory of applications awaiting examination by the Office¹ and improve overall wait times to registration in Canada”.

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.