New practice regarding the appointment of the international representative as agent

October 28, 2026 - Gatineau, Quebec

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has published an update to the Industrial Design Office Practice Manual (the Manual).

In support of the Government of Canada's ongoing commitment to reduce red tape and strengthen service delivery, this update introduces a new practice aiming to improve efficiency, increase certainty and prevent loss of rights with respect to Hague applications by facilitating the appointment of the international representative as the agent before CIPO.

Under current practice for Hague applications, the appointment of a representative in an international application is only effective before the World Intellectual Property Organization. If the applicant wishes to appoint an agent in Canada, a separate and sufficiently clear notice of appointment must be communicated directly to CIPO. The absence of a sufficiently clear notice can result in delays or, in some cases, abandonment of the application in Canada.

Effective immediately, CIPO will consider that correspondence submitted by the international representative constitutes sufficient notice of the appointment of that agent before CIPO in respect to each Canadian application stemming from the corresponding international registration. The correspondence must include the representative's name and postal address as recorded on the International Register.

Note that this practice does not apply if there is a previously appointed agent on file. In such cases, clear revocation and appointment requests will be required to change the appointed agent.

To reflect this new practice and clarify current procedures related to Hague applications, the Manual and correspondence issued by CIPO have been revised and reorganized to improve clarity and understanding, as well as to more accurately reflect current practices.

For more information, please consult the Manual.

For any questions, please contact us.