Home » 2012 » January

"Don't Hide The Ball" - Best Mode in the US Patent System

  I am pleased to join you from south of the border. My work has been focussed in the United States. Intellectual property laws are very powerful and important today. Yet they are but part of the larger body of law in any country. They are also part of a developing fabric of international commercial […]

Soccer Match Schedules Must Be Creative To Be Copyrighted, Says Advocate General

On December 15, 2011, Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi gave his opinion to the Court of Appeal of England & Wales on whether soccer match schedules could be protected by copyright.  This opinion is a companion of sorts, to a ruling of the Court in 2004 that said the “fixture lists” as they are referred to, […]

China’s Patent vs. Innovation Dilemma

With a well-deserved reputation for counterfeiting and knockoffs, we have rarely looked to China for innovation and invention. Nevertheless, as an ever-growing giant on the world’s economic stage, China has taken steps to remedy this deficiency. About a year ago, Thomson-Reuters released their second report on the nation’s patent prowess, suggesting that China’s patent will outpace Japan […]

This Suit Is Bananas

Representatives of the defunct rock band, The Velvet Underground, have brought an action against the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. concerning rights over the world’s most iconic banana image a full 45 years after it was first released.

Collective Licensing: Promises and Pitfalls

  Looking at the current state of trans-border licensing of music inEurope, the European example can teach mainly what to avoid. Even more so, many of the issues discussed in the EU might even be totally irrelevant for Canada. Unlike Canada, the EU currently consists of 27 member states, and as of today, there is […]

The Stanford Experience: A Semester in the IP Intensive Program at Osgoode

Last semester, I had the privilege of being a part of the inaugural class of the Intellectual Property Law & Technology Intensive Program at Osgoode Hall Law School. The program is a two week intensive seminar series, followed by a full time internship for the rest of the semester at a placement suited to our interests. […]

Developing: Megaupload Take Down and Attacks by Anonymous

Ben Farrow is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. It was a big day in the copyright enforcement world today as US federal authorities moved to shut down website Megaupload. The crackdown included charges against seven people as well as the seizure of over 50 million dollars in assets.  As the internet's most […]

Semantics? LG Electronic’s Losing Battle Over DIRECT DRIVE®

Courtney Doagoo is a doctoral student at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. On November 22, 2011, the European Community Court of Justice rejected an Appeal made by LG Electronics for the trade mark registration of the word sign DIRECT DRIVE for Class 7 and 11 wares (namely electric washing machines for household purposes, […]

Supreme Court of Canada Considers "Broadcasting Undertakings" in ACTRA v. Bell

Daniel Dawalibi is an articling student at McCarthy Tétrault LLP.  The firm acted for the Appellant in this hearing before the Supreme Court of Canada. On January 16, 2011, the Supreme Court heard an appeal in the case of Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television & Radio Artists, et al. v. Bell Aliant Regional Communications, LP, […]