{"id":11714,"date":"2011-04-04T15:36:37","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T19:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iposgoode.ca\/?p=11714"},"modified":"2011-04-04T15:36:37","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T19:36:37","slug":"ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/","title":{"rendered":"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ashlee Froese is an Osgoode Hall alumnus and currently practices intellectual property at the law firm of Keyser Mason Ball LLP.<\/em><\/p>\n

As any Fashionista will know, over the last two weeks Toronto has been shining bright with visions of sequins and metallics.\u00a0 Of course, I am talking about Rogue Fashion Week<\/a> and LG\u2019s Fashion Week<\/a>.\u00a0 But does Canada create a strong platform for these designers?\u00a0 This article is the first in a series that will comparatively look at Canada\u2019s legal and financial treatment of the fashion industry to determine whether it is adequately protected.<\/p>\n

I had the great fortune to attend a number of the events and shows at Rogue Fashion Week and LG\u2019s Fashion Week.\u00a0 Two themes were constant: the creative ingenuity was breath-taking and the enthusiasm of these young designers was infectious.<\/p>\n

Fierceness and fabulousness aside, the fashion industry is a serious (and lucrative) business.\u00a0 It is estimated that the fashion industry generates $500 million for Ontario annually<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, Toronto is home to the third largest design workforce in North America. \u00a0However, Ontario has refused to recognize the fashion business as a cultural industry thereby making fashion designers ineligible to receive any arts grants and\/or funding.\u00a0 For the emerging designer, such financial assistance can be critical to growing the business.\u00a0 Conversely, the Quebec government has significantly invested in Montreal\u2019s fashion industry.\u00a0 For example, two years ago it earmarked $82 million to develop and internationally promote Montreal\u2019s fashion industry.\u00a0 Moreover in Quebec, fashion also qualifies for arts and cultural funding, which has seen immediate benefits.\u00a0 Once the fashion industry was eligible for cultural grants, employment in the fashion industry doubled<\/a> in less than a year.\u00a0 Advocates within the fashion industry (such as the Fashion Design Council of Canada and the Canadian Apparel Federation) note that Quebec\u2019s preferential treatment is benefiting the Montreal design community, much to the detriment of the Ontario design community.<\/p>\n

If we can see the detrimental effects that varying policies can have on the design communities within Canada, how does Canada as a whole fare internationally and what are the implications for Canada?\u00a0 The Office of the United States Trade Representative recently released its 2011 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers<\/a>, wherein it examines obstacles within Canada that negatively affect the US\u2019s willingness to trade with Canada.\u00a0 In 2010, Canada did not fare well.\u00a0 Canada was listed on the Priority Watch List because of its failure, in part, to implement copyright reform and bolster customs border enforcement practices.\u00a0 Once again in 2011, the US continues to urge Canada to address these issues.\u00a0 Although the fashion industry was not specifically cited as a concern in this report, it is clear that upon global comparison, Canada is coming up short, which in the long term can be detrimental to the growth of Canada\u2019s fashion industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is not surprising that in countries where the fashion industry is a major contributor to the economy, the domestic intellectual property laws facilitate adequate protection of fashion designs.\u00a0 France and Italy are examples of countries that have instituted laws that explicitly protect fashion designs.\u00a0 The United States is currently attempting to reform its copyright laws to offer protection specific to fashion designs.\u00a0 In Canada, however, the fashion designer has to meander through a myriad of intellectual property laws to garner protection, although none that are specific to the entire fashion piece.\u00a0 Canada\u2019s fashion industry has the potential to be a big player in the international arena, but with designers such as D Squared<\/a> moving abroad, is Canada really supportive of its designers, thereby enticing them to stay in Canada?<\/p>\n

Upcoming articles in this series will examine how Canada\u2019s intellectual property laws can support fashion designers, how some countries have firmly established intellectual property laws that are specific to the fashion industry and will look at the US\u2019s attempts to reform its copyright laws to encompass protection for the fashion industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ashlee Froese is an Osgoode Hall alumnus and currently practices intellectual property at the law firm of Keyser Mason Ball LLP. As any Fashionista will know, over the last two weeks Toronto has been shining bright with visions of sequins and metallics.\u00a0 Of course, I am talking about Rogue Fashion Week and LG\u2019s Fashion Week.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[270,65,364,1013,669,62],"tags":[500],"class_list":["post-11714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commercialization","category-copyright","category-events","category-feature-post","category-osgoode-alumnus","category-trademarks","tag-ashlee-froese"],"yoast_head":"\nIP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late? - IPOsgoode<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late? - IPOsgoode\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ashlee Froese is an Osgoode Hall alumnus and currently practices intellectual property at the law firm of Keyser Mason Ball LLP. As any Fashionista will know, over the last two weeks Toronto has been shining bright with visions of sequins and metallics.\u00a0 Of course, I am talking about Rogue Fashion Week and LG\u2019s Fashion Week.\u00a0 […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IPOsgoode\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-04T19:36:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ccraig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ccraig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/2011\\\/04\\\/04\\\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/2011\\\/04\\\/04\\\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ccraig\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/09b0ef7189d5a2bd6fef2472e5ea5b94\"},\"headline\":\"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late?\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-04T19:36:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/2011\\\/04\\\/04\\\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":667,\"keywords\":[\"Ashlee Froese\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Commercialization\",\"Copyright\",\"events\",\"Feature Post\",\"Osgoode Alumnus\",\"Trademarks\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/2011\\\/04\\\/04\\\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/2011\\\/04\\\/04\\\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\\\/\",\"name\":\"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late? - IPOsgoode\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-04T19:36:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/09b0ef7189d5a2bd6fef2472e5ea5b94\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/2011\\\/04\\\/04\\\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/2011\\\/04\\\/04\\\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/2011\\\/04\\\/04\\\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/\",\"name\":\"IPOsgoode\",\"description\":\"An Authoritive Leader in IP\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/09b0ef7189d5a2bd6fef2472e5ea5b94\",\"name\":\"ccraig\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4d6461ef50f637a66f0e694df440ca5896971e12de84d604936521b184fec22a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4d6461ef50f637a66f0e694df440ca5896971e12de84d604936521b184fec22a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4d6461ef50f637a66f0e694df440ca5896971e12de84d604936521b184fec22a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ccraig\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.yorku.ca\\\/osgoode\\\/iposgoode\\\/author\\\/ccraig\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late? - IPOsgoode","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late? - IPOsgoode","og_description":"Ashlee Froese is an Osgoode Hall alumnus and currently practices intellectual property at the law firm of Keyser Mason Ball LLP. As any Fashionista will know, over the last two weeks Toronto has been shining bright with visions of sequins and metallics.\u00a0 Of course, I am talking about Rogue Fashion Week and LG\u2019s Fashion Week.\u00a0 […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/","og_site_name":"IPOsgoode","article_published_time":"2011-04-04T19:36:37+00:00","author":"ccraig","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ccraig","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/"},"author":{"name":"ccraig","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/#\/schema\/person\/09b0ef7189d5a2bd6fef2472e5ea5b94"},"headline":"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late?","datePublished":"2011-04-04T19:36:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/"},"wordCount":667,"keywords":["Ashlee Froese"],"articleSection":["Commercialization","Copyright","events","Feature Post","Osgoode Alumnus","Trademarks"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/","url":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/","name":"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late? - IPOsgoode","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-04-04T19:36:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/#\/schema\/person\/09b0ef7189d5a2bd6fef2472e5ea5b94"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2011\/04\/04\/ip-law-and-fashion-week-is-canada-un-fashionably-late\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IP Law and Fashion Week: Is Canada Un-Fashionably Late?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/","name":"IPOsgoode","description":"An Authoritive Leader in IP","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/#\/schema\/person\/09b0ef7189d5a2bd6fef2472e5ea5b94","name":"ccraig","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4d6461ef50f637a66f0e694df440ca5896971e12de84d604936521b184fec22a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4d6461ef50f637a66f0e694df440ca5896971e12de84d604936521b184fec22a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4d6461ef50f637a66f0e694df440ca5896971e12de84d604936521b184fec22a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ccraig"},"url":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/author\/ccraig\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":270,"label":"Commercialization"},{"value":65,"label":"Copyright"},{"value":364,"label":"events"},{"value":1013,"label":"Feature Post"},{"value":669,"label":"Osgoode Alumnus"},{"value":62,"label":"Trademarks"}],"post_tag":[{"value":500,"label":"Ashlee Froese"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"ccraig","author_link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/author\/ccraig\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":270,"name":"Commercialization","slug":"commercialization","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":270,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":116,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":270,"category_count":116,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Commercialization","category_nicename":"commercialization","category_parent":0},{"term_id":65,"name":"Copyright","slug":"copyright","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":65,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":907,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":65,"category_count":907,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Copyright","category_nicename":"copyright","category_parent":0},{"term_id":364,"name":"events","slug":"events","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":364,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":140,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":364,"category_count":140,"category_description":"","cat_name":"events","category_nicename":"events","category_parent":0},{"term_id":1013,"name":"Feature Post","slug":"feature-post","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1013,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":296,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1013,"category_count":296,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Feature Post","category_nicename":"feature-post","category_parent":0},{"term_id":669,"name":"Osgoode Alumnus","slug":"osgoode-alumnus","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":669,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":26,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":669,"category_count":26,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Osgoode Alumnus","category_nicename":"osgoode-alumnus","category_parent":0},{"term_id":62,"name":"Trademarks","slug":"trademarks","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":62,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":416,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":62,"category_count":416,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Trademarks","category_nicename":"trademarks","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":500,"name":"Ashlee Froese","slug":"ashlee-froese","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":500,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":19,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}