Between May 5-8, 2025, CPATA will hold elections for one patent agent and one trademark agent to serve on the Board of Directors. Licensees who are interested in helping strengthen CPATA as a modern, risk-based public interest regulator are encouraged to consider the position.
Elected directors employ their experience in the patent agent and trademark agent professions to complement the perspectives of non-licensee appointed directors. Although elected by their peers, elected Directors serve as fiduciaries of CPATA and maintain a consistent focus on the public interest. Directors are offered financial compensation for their time and expertise. Elected licensees will begin their term at CPATA’s Annual General Meeting on June 4, 2025 for a three year term.
Nominations will be open between February 14 – March 7, 2025. Anyone interested in running in the Director election must attend an online candidate orientation session on February 11. In the meantime, those interested in learning more about the role are encouraged to reach out to CPATA CEO and Registrar Juda Strawczynski at ceo-dir@cpata-cabamc.ca.
Expectations of Directors
Board members:
- help continue to build a new, world-class, modern public interest regulator
- act as a fiduciary to CPATA and in accordance with CPATA’s policies and Director Code of Conduct
- contribute insightful perspectives derived from their practice experience, background and personal qualities
- use their experience in the profession to complement the perspectives of non-licensee directors
- are elected to serve for a 3-year term
- participate in mostly virtual public meetings approximately every quarter, two in-person meetings per year, and additional meetings as may be required
- provide high-level strategic direction but are not involved in managing day-to-day operations
Eligibility
The CPATA Act establishes eligibility requirements to run in a CPATA election.
Section 14 provides that an individual is not eligible to be appointed or elected as a director if they
- are less than 18 years of age;
- have the status of a bankrupt;
- are a member of an association whose primary purpose is to represent the interests of persons who provide advice on patents or trademarks (i.e. IPIC);
- were, within the preceding 12 months, a member of a governing body or a steering committee of an association referred to in paragraph (c);
- in the case of an appointment to the Board,
- are a licensee, or
- are employed by a department, as defined in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act; or
- in the case of election to the Board,
- have a license that is suspended, or
- meet any other ineligibility criteria set out in the by-laws.
By-law 13 sets out additional ineligibility requirements as follows:
For purposes of subparagraphs 14(f)(ii) and 17(h)(iii) of the Act, an individual is not eligible to be an elected director if
- in the five years immediately before the day of the election, they have been found to have committed professional misconduct or to be incompetent by the Discipline Committee;
- in the five years immediately before the day of the election, they have been found by a professional regulatory body to have committed professional misconduct or to be incompetent within the meaning of the statute under which the body made its finding;
- they are the subject of an action taken by the Investigations Committee under subsection 37.1(1) of the Act;
- they are the subject of an application to the Discipline Committee by the Investigations Committee under subsection 49(1) of the Act;
- they have already served as a director for a period of six years and, on the date of the election, less than two years have elapsed since the end of that period;
- they are employed by a department as defined in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act;
- they have not provided the CEO with a declaration regarding conflicts of interest; or
- they have not attended an orientation for prospective candidates for election.
Eligible directors are expected to attend the orientation session and to meet any procedural requirements set for the election process.
Note that dual licensees who are both patent agents and trademark agents may be nominated to run in both elections. Ultimately, a licensee can only hold one director position. Those running in both elections must indicate which role they serve in should the election results indicate that they could serve as either a patent agent or trademark agent director. This information will be held confidentially by CPATA.
