"The subject of Patents is rather incomprehensible to those not concerned in them, and often disappointing to those who are..."

-- Charles Dickens, 1857

Fortunately, things have changed since Dickens' day. Find out how in a new, one-stop guide to an increasingly important subject. This novel, useful and inventive work combines comprehensiveness for lawyers and patent agents, and comprehensibility for inventors, patent departments, technology administrators and other faithful.

Features

• everything from the origin of the patent system to the latest law, with leading cases and pertinent practical points
• the consolidated Patent Act (including Bills C-91, S-17 and C-115), Patent Rules and Regulations
• a complete review of obtaining, maintaining and enforcing patents
• a comparative study of patents and the other forms of Canadian intellectual property law
• an analysis of the international patent system, focusing on the Paris Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the European Patent Convention
• an overview of American patent law and practice
• a bibliography of leading Canadian, American and international legal and popular works in the field

Extensively researched and footnoted, the text is presented in an elegant and accessible format designed by an award-winning graphic design firm. With superior content and form, you will find Patents both an invaluable reference and an attractive keepsake.

Contents

VALIDITY

• origins of the patent system
• administration of patents in Canada
• patentable and non-patentable subject matter
• novelty, utility and invention

OBTAINING AND MAINTAINING PATENTS

• preliminary strategies
• preparing patent applications
• conducting applications before the Patent Office
• post-grant procedures

OTHER INTERESTS

• assignments and licences
• patented medicines
• infringement and other actions, remedies, offences and penalties
• patents compared with the other forms of intellectual property protected in Canada

INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE

• various types of patents, patent systems and filing and granting procedures
• international treaties, including the Paris Convention, Patent Cooperation Treaty and European Patent Convention
• U.S. patent law and practice

APPENDICES

• Patent Act
• Patent Rules
• Regulations under the Patent Act
• Bill C-115, the NAFTA Implementation Act (as it relates to patents)

About the Author

The author is a lawyer, writer and speaker who has practiced and lectured extensively in intellectual property law, with a particular fondness for patents. He has chaired an Intellectual Property Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, and is a member of the Patent and Trademark Institute of Canada. His many published credits include books, magazines, newspapers, legal journals, literary journals and television. He has won national awards for his writing. He delights in demystifying the inscrutable.