I am delighted to see that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has joined the DAS system for industrial designs.
The announcement may be seen here on the DAS web site. From April 1, 2019 the CIPO will be a Depositing Office for industrial designs, and will likewise be an Accessing Office for industrial designs. This welcome development at the CIPO is doubtless linked to Canada’s having recently joined the Hague Agreement for designs (blog article).
The CIPO is an Office where patent applications may be filed. It is interesting to note that the CIPO’s joining of DAS has not (yet) extended to patent applications. I have to guess that eventually the CIPO will drop the other shoe and will join DAS with respect to patent applications as well.
I am sure that CIPO is planning to join DAS for patents also.. One reason why CIPO may not have joined DAS yet for patents is that currently there is no obligation to provide a certified copy of the priority document at CIPO if you file a patent application claiming priority from a foreign patent application. That’s right. In opposition to most countries, you can request priority from a foreign patent applications and only provide a certified copy if the examiner requests one. However, this is very likely to change soon as proposed rules related to Patent Act changes needed to conform with the Patent Law Treaty are in the process of being adopted. One of the rule changes is that you will need to provide the certified copy of the priority document for all applications once the rules are adopted.