concept of the invention.124 The Patent Act defines “legal representatives” as including “heirs, executors, administrators, guardians, curators, tutors, assigns and all other persons claiming through or under applicants for patents and patentees of inventions.”125 Neither the Patent Act nor the Patent Rules require an applicant, inventor, legal representative, or patent agent to be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada, or have a particular legal status in order to apply for a patent. In section 29(1) of the Patent Act dealing with “non-resident applicants”, there is a requirement that “[a]n applicant for a patent who does not appear to reside or carry on business at a specified address in Canada shall, on the filing date of the application, appoint as a representative a person or firm residing or carrying on business at a specified address in Canada.”126 While it has been noted that this is for the purposes of service proceedings,127 it appears to at least imply that the applicant for a patent have a connection to someone who resides or carries on a business in Canada. b. Industrial Design The Industrial Design Act states that the proprietor of an industrial design may apply to register the design with the Minister by paying the prescribed fees and filing an application in the prescribed form.128 Furthermore, an applicant for registration of an industrial design is a “person who is named as the proprietor of a design in an application or the person to whom a design has been assigned while the application is pending.”129 A “registered proprietor” in respect of an industrial design is defined as “the person whose name appears in the Register of Industrial Designs as the proprietor of the industrial design.”130 In view of this, the registration of an industrial design under the Industrial Design Act does not appear to require an applicant/proprietor of an industrial design to have a nationality, Canadian citizenship, Canadian permanent residence or reside in Canada. However, in order to receive any notice or on whom documents are to be served on behalf of the applicant, an applicant must have a “representative for service” with an address in Canada.131 The Industrial Design Act also provides that an application for the registration of an industrial design filed in Canada, by a person who has previously filed an application for registration of the same industrial design in a foreign country, has the same force and effect as the same application would have if filed in Canada. The Industrial Design Act defines “foreign country” as “a country that by treaty, convention or law affords a privilege to citizens of Canada that is similar to the privilege afforded with respect to the effective date of an application for the registration of an industrial design, and includes a World Trade Organization member.”132 Apotex Inc. v. Wellcome Foundation Ltd., 2002 SCC 77, at paras. 94-109, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/1kc Patent Act, supra note 123 at s. 2. 126 Ibid., at s. 29(1). 127 Sarnoff Corp. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2008 FC 712, at paras. 9 & 13, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/1x5qd [Sarnoff v. Canada] 128 Industrial Design Act, RSC 1985, c I-9, at s. 4(1), available at: http://canlii.ca/t/hzpm [Industrial Design Act] 129 Industrial Design Regulations, SOR/99-460, at s. 1, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/52bs1 [Industrial Design Regulations] 130 Ibid., at s. 1. 131 Ibid., at ss. 1 & 9(2)(e). 132 Industrial Design Act, supra note 128 at s. 29; and Ibid., at s. 20. 124 125 28