Judicial review of patent Commissioner's refusal to reinstate expired patent dismissed for lack of due care.
The applicant sought judicial review of a decision by the Commissioner of Patents refusing to reinstate a patent deemed expired for non-payment of annual maintenance fees.
The Commissioner found that an unanticipated email breakdown sending reminders to the applicant's junk folder did not alone satisfy the statutory "due care" standard because no secondary mitigating communication practices were implemented by the applicant or agent over a lengthy period.
The Federal Court held the decision was reasonable and applied the correct test.
Arguments regarding procedural fairness and administrative delay were dismissed for lack of evidence of prejudice.
