The Federal Court of Canada recently released a decision in Yves Choueifaty v Attorney General of Canada, 2020 FC 837, providing long-awaited clarification on the correct approach of the Patent Office to construing claims of a patent application, particularly in the context of an assessment of subject-matter eligibility under section 2 of the Patent Act. Please join us by webinar as we hear from Steven Garland and Jeff Leuschner on their perspectives on the Court's decision and its potential impact on the issue of patentability before the Patent Office in Canada.
Steven Garland will speak on his views of the decision as a litigator, providing a unique perspective in view of his experience leading litigation of the Amazon.com "one-click" patent – the last time the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal addressed these issues of claim construction and patentable subject matter.
Jeff Leuschner will provide a prosecutor's perspective on how the decision may impact prosecution of Canadian patent applications, particularly those facing section 2 objections, and what policy changes we might expect to see from CIPO's examination of computer-implemented inventions.
Steven Garland is a Partner at Smart & Biggar LLP. With over 25 years of trial and appellate experience, Steven has litigated on matters relating to patents, trademarks, copyright, industrial designs, trade secrets, breach of confidential information, and competition law. In respect of patents, Steven has acted in matters that have involved a wide variety of subjects, including chemical, electrical, biochemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnological, telephony, mechanical and computer/internet subject matter. He has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, appellate and trial courts for the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia, and the Patent Appeal Board and the Trademarks Opposition Board.
Jeff Leuschner is a Partner at Smart & Biggar IP Agency Co. Focused primarily in the fields of electrical and computer engineering, Jeff works with businesses to draft and prosecute patent applications. Jeff also assists international companies and foreign firms seeking to file for patent protection in Canada. He regularly prosecutes patent applications in both the U.S. and Canadian patent offices, as well as in patent offices overseas through foreign associates. Jeff is a member of the IPIC Patent Committee, which works to further improve policy and practice within the Canadian Patent Office and also reviews proposed changes to Patent Rules and practice.
