Under the provisions of the United States Patent Act, the sale of “any article of manufacture” to which an infringing design has been applied makes the infringer liable “to the extent of his total profit” with respect to the article of manufacture. In other words, the language of the Act specifically bars apportionment of an […]
On August 21st, 2017, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (“CIPO”) released its five-year business strategy for 2017 to 2022. Of the five main strategies for supporting Canadian innovation and businesses, CIPO outlined a plan for building intellectual property (“IP”) awareness and education throughout Canada by expanding CIPO’s presence and partnerships in innovation focused networks and […]
Virgil Abloh, the Creative Director of fashion house Off-White and currently one of the biggest designers in the fashion industry, may have some important legal decisions to make in the near future. Abloh has been using quotation marks around everything he associates with the Off-White brand. Whether it is a design feature on a shoe, a […]
Who should own the Intellectual Property (IP) rights for Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated work? The current global legal regime does not allow for patents and copyright protection of AI inventions and works, and some argue they may ultimately fall under the public domain. The issue of AI creations and big data ownership and their impact on […]
How many ways can you describe a lawn sign? A few months ago, we could have maybe thought of a handful. Today, after 2 months of preparing for the International Patent Drafting Competition, we have encountered many dozens of ways to capture the invention behind a hypothetical lawn sign. Specifically, this lawn sign was disclosed […]
Knowing the past is useful for understanding where we are now and how we can succeed in the future. The final session of IP Osgoode’s symposium honouring Professor David Vaver's contributions to IP law, titled “The Importance of History”, examined this concept in relation to technology transfer and copyright in Canada. After an introduction by […]
Legislation and reform, one of Prof. Vaver’s main scholarly themes, was a focus of IP Osgoode’s symposium in honour of Professor David Vaver’s appointment to the Order of Canada. The discussion around the need for reform was targeted at making intellectual property (“IP”) “more about the public” and consistent with the values of “access,” “distribution,” […]
On Monday November 20th, 2017 scholars, students, practitioners and IP enthusiasts alike gathered at Osgoode Hall Law School for a symposium in honour of Prof. David Vaver’s appointment to the Order of Canada. The symposium – “Intellectual Property: Fuel for the Fire of Genius or Shelf Life of a Banana” – highlighted four themes of […]
As a lawyer, I perceived overlapping legal rights to be a reasonable attempt of the legislators to cover the numerous nuances of the empirical reality. However, prior to my attendance at IP Osgoode's symposium entitled, ‘Intellectual Property: Fuel for the Fire of Genius or Shelf Life of a Banana?’, which honoured Prof. David Vaver's Order […]
The Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC) and IP Osgoode are delighted to announce our 2018 Canadian writing challenge in intellectual property law.