Patent Rules — 26
Power of joint applicants to appoint common representative 26 (1) If, in respect of an application for a patent, there are joint applicants, one applicant may be appointed by the other applicants as their common representative. Power of joint patentees to appoint common representative (2) If, in respect of a patent, there are joint patentees, one patentee may be appointed by the other patentees as their common representative. Manner of appointment (3) The appointment of a common representative must be made by one of the following methods: (a) in respect of a patent or an application for a patent, in a notice to that effect that is signed by the other applicants or patentees and submitted to the Commissioner; (b) in respect of an application for a patent — other than a divisional application or an international application — that includes a petition on the filing date, in that petition; and (c) in respect of a PCT national phase application, in a notice to that effect that is submitted to the Commissioner on or before the national phase entry date of that application. Common representative by default — application for patent (4) Subject to subsections (6), (9) and (11), in respect of an application for a patent — other than a divisional application — in relation to which there are joint applicants and no common representative is appointed under subsection (3), the following person is deemed to be appointed as the common representative: (a) in respect of an application for a patent, other than a PCT national phase application, (i) in the case where the application included a petition on the filing date, the first person named as an applicant in that petition, (ii) in the case where, on the filing date, the application did not include a petition but did include a single other document naming the joint applicants, the joint applicant whose name appears first in that document, and (iii) in any other case, the joint applicant whose name appears first when listed in alphabetical order on the filing date; and (b) in respect of a PCT national phase application, (i) if joint applicants are named in the corresponding request under Article 4 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, if more than one applicant complied with the requirements of subsection 154 (1) and, if applicable, subsection 154 (2), and if the first person named as an applicant in that request is one of those applicants, the first person named as an applicant in that request, and (ii) in any other case, the joint applicant who complied with the requirements of subsection 154 (1) and, if applicable, subsection 154 (2), and whose name appears first when listed in alphabetical order. Common representative by default — divisional application (5) Subject to subsections (6), (9) and (11), in respect of a divisional application, in relation to which there are joint applicants and no common representative is appointed under paragraph (3)(a), the following person is deemed to be appointed as the common representative: (a) if, at the end of the day on the presentation date of the divisional application, the person who was the common representative in respect of the original application was an applicant of the divisional application, that person; and (b) in any other case, the first person named as an applicant in the petition contained in the divisional application on its presentation date. Common representative by default — correction or decision (6) Subject to subsections (9) and (11), in respect of an application for a patent in relation to which there are joint applicants and no common representative is appointed under subsection (3), if a correction has been made with respect to the naming of applicants under section 104 or subsection 154(6) and the correction has changed the identity of the applicants, or if a decision is made by the Commissioner under subsection 31(2), (3) or (4) of the Act, other than a decision refusing an application under one of those subsections, the joint app