Patent assignment registration
Patent assignment registration is the recording of a patent’s transfer with the Commissioner of Patents under section 49 of the Patent Act. The Act says a transfer that has not been recorded is void against a subsequent transferee whose transfer has been recorded.
A buyer of a business that holds patents meets this at closing, when the patents move to the buyer. Section 49(1) of the Patent Act makes a patent, a patent application and the right or interest in an invention transferable, in whole or in part. The Act uses the word recorded for the Patent Office entry.
How recording works
Under section 49(3), the Commissioner shall, subject to the regulations, record a transfer of a patent on the request of the patentee or, on satisfactory evidence of the transfer, of a transferee. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office points to chapter 6 of its MOPOP, titled Ownership, Inventorship, Transfer, Changes of Names, for recording a transfer.
What to ask
- Whether the patents are in the seller’s name on the Patent Office record
- Who will request recording of the transfer to the buyer, and when
- Whether maintenance fees are current, since section 46 requires prescribed fees to maintain a patent’s rights
The register search answer covers looking up registers before a purchase, and industrial design registration is the equivalent record for designs.
Sources
This definition is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Government of Canada (Department of Justice)GovernmentPatent Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-4
- 02Canadian Intellectual Property OfficeGovernmentRecordal of transfers, changes of name and registration of documents
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