AGENT PRIVACY STATEMENT
The College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents (“the College”) as an independent regulatory body, is committed to providing online services that respect the privacy of current and future Patent Agents and Trademark Agents. The College has a legal duty to protect personal information, in compliance with Privacy Act, the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents Act (the CPATA Act), and other applicable legislation.
This Privacy Statement describes how the College collects, uses, discloses, and protects the personal information of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents and Patent and Trademark Agents in Training, and your rights and choices with respect to that personal information. This document is not intended to describe every situation in which the College collects, uses or discloses personal information. The purposes for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information will be set out at the time of collection.
For more information on our privacy policies and practices, please visit our Policies Page.
You can also view our privacy statement for visitors of the College website which describes the general information practices related to our public website, including how the College uses web server logs, website analytics, and third-party links.
By continuing to interact with the College, you accept this privacy statement.
COLLECTION
Personal Information
The term “personal information” means information about an identifiable individual that is recorded in any form, as defined in the Privacy Act. The personal information we may collect from you includes, for example:
- Name
- Address
- Contact details: email address, fax, and telephone numbers
- Financial information such as debts, bank account, credit card details and results of bankruptcy checks
- Occupation, employment and position, qualifications, work experience, professional memberships, referee reports, employment history and academic record
- Disciplinary records of Agents – including conduct
- Canadian residency status
- Information related to your medical history or other health-related information, if required to assess your fitness to practice
- Criminal convictions and intelligence, including security assessments
Except for certain personal information from Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) collected for the purpose of establishing the Registers outlined below, or in connection with investigations described below, the College does not gather any personal information about you unless you supply it directly. Situations where you would supply us with personal information include contact information contained in your personal files maintained by the reports, and information about continuing professional development and pro bono activities as they are mandated by the College. When we ask you for your personal information, we will provide you with a privacy notice linking to this statement where we describe the purpose for collecting your personal information, our authority to do so, and how you may ask questions.
The College only collects personal information about you that is directly related to and is demonstrably necessary for operating a program, or activity of the College (i.e., a law, regulation, bylaw or policy authorizes or requires us to collect it).
Licencing and Renewal
Personal information is collected by the College from licensees, at all stages of their licensure, and from Foreign Practitioners.
Under authority of the CPATA Act, Regulations and College and Board by-laws, any individual who applies to be a Class 3 Licensee must provide a range of information, including residence, criminal background check records of any disciplinary sanctions by an academic institution or professional or non-professional body, records of bankruptcy or insolvency, and any other information necessary for the Registrar to determine whether the Agent is of good character and fit to practice. This personal information must be made available by an applicant before it can be considered by the Registrar.
A Class 3 Licensee who applies to become a Class 1 Licensee must remain a Canadian resident, be of good character and fit to practice.
A standard criminal background check is a mandatory part of the licence requirements assessment. This is conducted through accessing personal information on an applicant from the RCMP National Repository of Criminal Records or local police. If an applicant is found to have a criminal record, further personal information will be collected on the nature of the offense(s) to determine if it will impact their fitness to practice.
Requesting a Name Change
If you wish to change your first or last name with the College, you are required to submit documentation demonstrating the legal nature of the change. This could include providing a copy of your name change certificate from a provincial/territorial vital statistics department, and a court order issued under an Act, or an existing court order issued under an Act on change of name.
Investigations
If you are being investigated for professional misconduct or incompetence, personal information, required for the investigation, may be collected by an Investigator assigned by the Investigations Committee. This personal information will, in most cases, be collected with your knowledge and cooperation.
If an Agent is unwilling to cooperate and share relevant personal information with the Investigator, the College may compel the production of certain documents, including personal information, to assist in the investigation.
Only employees directly involved in the complaints investigation process have access to personal information about an Agent under investigation.
Data Migration from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
In the ‘coming into force’ process of the College, the personal information of any Agent whose name was on the Register of Patent Agents, or the list of Trademark Agents was transferred to the College. This information included information from the date of a person’s initial registration with CIPO and six years of historical data related to former Agents. This personal information was collected to communicate with Agents, and for the ongoing regulation of the Agents by the College (such as allowing current Agents to renew their licences) to allow the College to perform its Regulatory duties and functions under the CPATA Act.
USE
The College may only use your personal information for the same purpose for which it was collected or a consistent purpose or as permitted or required by law, such as:
- to comply with legal and regulatory requirements;
- to investigate an Agent if the Investigations Committee has reasonable grounds to believe that the Agent has committed professional misconduct or was incompetent;
- to create aggregate information collected via Web analytics;
- to send communications in response to inquiries submitted to the College; and
- to send email communications related to College practices (e.g., fee updates, renewal timelines).
Third Parties acting on the College’s behalf
We use service providers who have agreed to comply with appropriate privacy standards to perform services for the College. We require service providers acting on behalf of the College to follow the Privacy Act and the College’s Privacy Policy in conducting their business.
Olatech Corporation
Olatech Corporation, as a regulatory management software company, created a platform which houses the public register and licensee portal for CPATA. They have signed a Services Agreement with the College that binds Olatech Corporation to comply with the Privacy Act. Olatech Corporation will not disclose, distribute, or reproduce personal information obtained through CPATA. Additionally, it must use reasonable due diligence in its use of all personal information.
Moneris
When you pay your fees, we collect your name, method of payment, and amount of the fee solely for processing the financial transaction. Your credit card information is only used by Moneris, our third-party payment processor, to process your payment; it is not retained or stored.
Moneris is compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Standards to ensure your personal information is maintained in a secure environment.
For more details regarding how credit card companies protect your information, please refer to their respective card holder policies and privacy policies.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an American automation platform and email marketing distribution service. They have been engaged by the College to assist in communicating to Agents via email. They will create aggregate statistics on email processing volume by anonymizing data from the College.
For more information regarding how Mailchimp protects your information and their obligations regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information, please refer to their standard terms of use, their privacy policy, and their cookie statement.
DISCLOSURE
The College will not disclose your personal information unless we have obtained your consent, or if the disclosure is permitted or required under the Privacy Act or the CPATA Act, Regulations or by-laws.
Public Register
Under authority of the CPATA Act, Regulations and College by-laws, the Register makes public the following information pertaining to Agents. This information is subject to the Privacy Act when it identifies individual Agents:
- the name and contact information of every Agent;
- the name and contact information of any firm of which the Agent is a member (including city);
- licence number;
- any conditions that have been imposed on the Agent’s licence and any restrictions that have been imposed on the Agent’s entitlement to provide representation;
- an indication that the Agent’s licence has been suspended and the date on which it was suspended (if applicable);
- all disciplinary measures imposed on them by the Discipline Committee;
- names of every Agent whose licence or training licence was surrendered or revoked; and
- any other additional information required by the regulations and by-laws.
Access to Applicant Records
Upon the written request of an applicant for registration by a regulated profession, the regulated profession shall provide the applicant with access to records held by it that are related to the application.
The College may refuse access to a record if,
(a) the record or any information in the record is subject to a legal privilege that restricts disclosure of the record or the information, as the case may be;
(b) another Act, an Act of Canada or a court order prohibits disclosure of the record or any information in the record in the circumstances;
(c) granting the access could reasonably be expected to lead to the identification of a person who provided information in the record to the regulated profession explicitly or implicitly in confidence, and the regulated profession considers it appropriate in the circumstances that the identity of the person be kept confidential; or
(d) granting the access could negatively affect public safety or could undermine the integrity of the registration process.
An applicant has a right of access to that part of a record that can reasonably be severed from the part to which the applicant does not have a right of access by reason of that subsection. CPATA has established a process under which requests for access to records will be considered.
PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
The College is obligated by law to protect your personal information by making reasonable security arrangements against such risks as unauthorized access, use, disclosure or disposal.
We protect the confidentiality, security and integrity of your personal information using a combination of administrative, physical and technical safeguards that are appropriate given the nature of the information collected and handled by or on behalf of the College. Personal information you provide to the College is securely stored and transported (using TLS encryption) and only accessed by College employees or service providers who need to know the information to fulfill their duties.
CHANGES
Changes to this Privacy Statement may occur if we make corresponding changes to the personal information we collect, or to our practices for handling your personal information. We will inform you of significant changes via this website.
PRIVACY INQUIRY
Any questions, comments, or concerns you may have regarding the administration of the Privacy Act and privacy policies regarding this website may be directed to the College Privacy Officer by email, by telephone or in writing to:
College of Patent Agent and Trademark Agents
Attention: Privacy Officer
400-411 Roosevelt Avenue
Ottawa, ON
K2A 3X9
Email: priv@cpata-cabamc.ca
If you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy concern, you may wish to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by email at info@priv.gc.ca or by telephone at 1-800-282-1376.