Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents

Help: FAQ

Here is a list of questions visitors to the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents Database frequently ask, along with their answers.

This FAQ covers questions about:

The CIPO Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents

• What information is offered by the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents Database?
• I am concerned that I may reveal confidential design information with my searches. Furthermore, what is your policy on the management of the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents access log?
• What are the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents notes?

Searching

• I did a search which resulted in over 100 hits. I can only see 10 on the page. How do I view the rest?
• Why do hyperlinks change colors after I click on them?

Search Results

• How do I view the results of my search?
• How do I get back to my "Search Results" screen?
• How do I order copies of Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents?
• How can I share a hyperlink to a decision without the recipient viewing my search query?
• How can I zoom into an image beyond 100% in order to see it more clearly?

Questions about the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents

What information is offered by the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents Database?

The Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents is an interactive search site designed to help you access information on all the bilingual Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents, relating to Patents, which have been made available to the public. It comprises all Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents on patent applications made after October 1, 1989 and those prior to October 1, 1989, which have been made public with the authorization of the applicant, by an appeal to the courts or by becoming public as a patent.

For questions related to the The Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents use our Request information or publications form or call (819) 997-1936.

I am concerned that I may reveal confidential design information with my searches. Furthermore, what is your policy on the management of the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents access log?

The communications between the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents and its users are not secure. Therefore, any communications that you wish to remain confidential, whether they are search queries, comments on the database, e-mail, or any other communications, should not be relayed to the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents. As for the access log, the information is gathered by CIPO and is for internal use only.

What are the Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents Notes?

A few Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents have notes indicating the status of a court Decision on the same case when an appeal has been made. These notes are searched at the same time as the Decisions text in order to determine if a Decision has been overturned or appealed to a higher court.

Questions about Searching

I did a search which resulted in over 100 hits. I can only see 10 on the page.  How do I view the rest?

To see the rest of the search results, click on the "next" button at the bottom of the results list. To increase the number of results per page, modify the "Results/page" box located above the search button.

Why do hyperlinks change colors after I click on them?

The hyperlinks will be shown in a different color if the user has visited the page. That way, the user will be able to keep a status on pages visited.

Questions about Search Results

How do I view the results of my search?

From the "Search Results" screen, you can view the details of an individual Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents by clicking on the Decision number.

How do I get back to my "Search Results" screen?

Since following a hyperlink will always replace the current Window's contents, your search results are replaced. Your browser's "Back" button can be used to return to search results. However, if you chose to open a hyperlink in a new browser window, the browser's history is disconnected. In this case, you may find a hyperlink above the footer that will take you back to your search results from a decision summary page or back to the decision summary page if you were on the image browsing page.

How do I order copies of Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents documents?

To obtain a copy of a public decision, you can call the Client Service Centre at (819) 997-2985 or send them an e-mail at CIPO Client Service Centre.

How can I share a hyperlink to a decision without the recipient viewing my search query?

In order to support search term highlighting, your search query is captured in the URLs for the decision summary and image browsing pages. If you wish to bookmark or share a URL of a page without the search query included, you may follow the link to this page hyperlink. The resulting page will not have your search query or search term highlighting included. To further protect your privacy, you should ensure that any caches of web pages made by your browser are removed (especially if you are using a public terminal).

How can I zoom into an image beyond 100% in order to see it more clearly?

To keep response times short for all users of the Commissioner's Decision Database, zoom levels have been limited to 12%, 25%, 50% and 100% of the original scanned image. If you wish to scale the image to other sizes, you may do so using your browser capabilities (if provided) or saving the image locally for further manipulation.