A patent gives you the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention in Canada for up to 20 years from the filing date. Teitelbaum & Burk Patent Agents helps inventors, startups, and established companies across Canada decide whether a patent is worthwhile and obtain one.
A Canadian patent lets you stop others from making, using, or selling your invention in Canada without your permission. It is territorial: it does not extend to the United States or any other country. If your market, manufacturing, or competitors are elsewhere, separate applications are needed abroad, and these are normally coordinated with the Canadian filing.
An invention must be new, useful, and not obvious to a person skilled in the field. Machines, processes, products, compositions, and improvements to any of these can qualify, including many software and electronics inventions when the claims are directed to a technical solution to a technical problem. Scientific principles and abstract theorems on their own are not patentable in Canada, so how an invention is described and claimed matters a great deal.
A patent is most valuable when the invention gives a commercial advantage that competitors would otherwise copy, when you plan to license or sell the technology, or when investors expect the company to hold protected intellectual property. It may be less suitable if the invention is easily designed around, if a trade secret, trademark, or industrial design would serve better, or if the cost outweighs the market opportunity.
Deciding this before you incur significant costs is part of our process. If you have an invention and are wondering whether to file, avoid public disclosure until you have spoken with a patent agent.
In Canada, patent applications are prepared and prosecuted by registered patent agents, many of whom also have a technical background, and by lawyers who are registered as patent agents. What matters is the agent's technical understanding and experience drafting and defending claims.
Neil Teitelbaum, principal of the firm, earned a B.Eng. in Electrical and Computer Engineering and has been a registered patent agent since 1994, with more than 30 years of experience and considerable depth in software patent applications. Ashley Burk, a lawyer, patent agent, and trademark agent, adds the ability to handle trademark and licensing matters alongside patents. See our team for full bios.
Our practice covers Canadian and US patent prosecution, PCT applications, and worldwide filings through associates. Flat fees are available for most stages of a filing, and we support clients using IPON funding.
Many Canadian patent agents can draft a US application but cannot file or correspond directly with the USPTO. As a registered Canadian patent agent, Neil Teitelbaum can do both for Canadian-resident applicants, keeping communication with the examiner direct. For applicants who are not Canadian residents, we draft and prosecute the application, with filing and formal correspondence handled through a US patent agent or attorney.
Contact us with a brief description of your invention and we will explain your options and the likely costs. For more detail on the filing process itself, read our step by step guide to patenting in Canada. You can also see examples of patents the firm has handled in software and other technology areas.
This page provides general information only and is not legal advice.