First-to-file System
In Canada, since October 1, 1989, generally speaking, patents are granted to the first inventor to file an application for an invention (that is, Canada has a "first-to-file" system), which may result in a "race to the patent office" by inventors of competing technologies (see "First to file and first to invent").
In some cases (referred to below under the heading Requesting an Earlier Filing Date), an application may effectively receive an earlier filing date, to improve the chances of an applicant winning the "race to the patent office".
Read more about this topic: Canadian Patent Law
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable of living in this way. Therefore not only does the system alienate humanity, but at the same time alienated humanity supports this system as its own involuntary masterplan, as a degenerate image of its own degeneration, as a record of people’s own failure as individuals.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)