The IPilogue is IP Osgoode’s online journal of IP Law and Technology. It publishes analysis and commentary on current pressing intellectual property, technology, privacy and related legal issues. The IPilogue features curated contributions from students, scholars, and experts within the Osgoode community, from our network of affiliated researchers and partners, as well as from professionals and scholars in disciplines outside of law.
Editor in Chief: Prof. Carys Craig (ccraig@osgoode.yorku.ca)
Submission inquiries: iposgoode@osgoode.yorku.ca
The recent situation concerning the Haka Ka Mate traditional dance is demonstrative that intellectual property law as it now stands, does not always provide the best fit. The Haka Ka Mate is a traditional dance that was composed by the Te Rauparaha of Ngati Toa to commemorate his escape from death. However, it is now […]
Recently Shepard Fairey, the creator of the famous Obama poster, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. against the Associated Press [AP]. Fairey is asking the federal court to declare that his poster did not infringe the copyright of AP’s photograph. AP claimed ownership of the image appearing on the poster. The image closely resembles a photograph taken […]
Giuseppina D’Agostino is the Director of IP Osgoode and an Assistant Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. Osgoode Hall students participated in the Harold G. Fox Moot this past weekend. The moot was founded by Professor Emir Mohammed (IP Osgoode Research Affiliate), Mohammed Hashim both of Windsor Law School and the partnership of Dimock Stratton […]
N. Ayse Odman Boztosun is Associate Professor of Law at Erciyes University Law Faculty, Kayseri, Turkey. She holds two master degrees from Oxford University where she has successfully submitted a thesis on the analysis of the competition law provisions in TRIPs. Her PhD thesis was on the mutual role of IPRs and competition law in […]
Janet Chong (3rd year, LLB) is VP Promotions of the Osgoode IP and Technology Society "Law is a tough mistress is you want to be a good lawyer." So spoke Toni Ashton, Senior Partner at Sim Lowman Aston & McKay, busting the myth that the practice of IP affords a better work/life balance than other […]
The rise of broadband internet for home-users within the last 10 years has caused important changes to the internet. Users of broadband services are able to consume and produce large amounts of internet content at very high bit-rates for a modest flat fee. At the same time, the number of ISPs serving broadband internet to […]
According to a recent article in The Globe and Mail, a pilot project called The Best of B.C. Books Online will endeavour to make about 1000 non-fiction titles, both new and back catalogue, available as electronic books. This will be achieved by purchasing electronic rights to non-fiction books from B.C. publishers, and making them accessible […]
Ever wondered who is the most responsible for flooding the US courts with frivolous patent litigation suits over the past decade? While most fingers will inevitably point towards the so called “patent trolls”, the recent study proposed by Nathan Myhrvold in collaboration with the Stanford University Law Professor Mark Lemley is determined to bring the […]
The WTO recently released its panel report on the US-China dispute over intellectual property rights. The panel found in the US’s favour on certain issues, with China winning out on others. Regardless of one’s views of the merits and politics of the dispute, it serves to highlight the difficult challenges faced in pursuing global intellectual […]
Industry responses to the European Commission (EC) preliminary report on pharmaceutical competition (see the IPilogue blog of Dec. 15, 2008) are becoming available, and criticism has been abundant. In no uncertain words professional associations are wondering aloud whether the EC properly interpreted the facts or, more generally, misconstrued the purposes of the current patent system. […]