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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A p r I L 2 0 1 5 41 realize there are elements to becoming a professional and maintain- ing professional designation that the agent community doesn't have — continuing education being a big one. "Doctors and accountants have continuing education, why don't agents have it? I think that's just a sensible update to give confidence to people that has the hallmarks of professionalism," says Andrew Skodyn, a partner with Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP. Skodyn does trademark and patent litigation and says he doesn't think CIPO is looking to fix a problem but rather establish a framework. He has handled some patent agent negligence files but says they are not as common as medical, legal, or accounting cases. He notes that right now there isn't a formal process by which complaints to CIPO are handled. Where the report is silent is on what the intent is with respect to lawyer agents, says Rowden. "The way this consultation is drafted one would think that there is no oversight for people practising intellectual property law; that they are primarily non-lawyer agents and that something needs to be done," says Rowden. "A very significant majority I would think, of people who practise in the intellectual property field, are lawyers and are already regulated by provincial law societies." Rowden's colleague Stephen Beney is a registered Canadian patent and trademark agent but not a lawyer. "I would say it's a good thing in general. It would ensure the agents who aren't per- haps members of firms as I am, do have regular training sessions to keep abreast of what's going on in the profession. That's good for the public." Dimock Straon llp experience. results. 20 Queen W. 32 nd fl, Toronto | 416.971.7202 | dimock.com IAM Patent 1000 2014 Gold Level Litigation & Transactions Managing Intellectual Property 2014 Tier 1 Patent Contentious Benchmark Canada's National IP Firm of the Year 2014 "No maer how complex the contentious brief, litigation powerhouse Dimock Straon can dispatch it with consummate ease." "…a strong reputation in … patent contentious … focus on pharmaceutical, high tech sectors." "…Dimock and company do it all…" Read more about our track record at dimock.com Always get at least three quotes ntitled-3 1 2015-03-12 2:59 PM