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Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual Property in Canada (ipblog.ca)

Intellectual property law, copyright, trademarks and Internet law in Canada.
By Richard P.W. Stobbe

Post Frequency: 39.2/day

Last Entry: January 07, 2020 at 08:00:07

Domain Name Scams

Posted on March 27, 2008
In our earlier post we wrote about the domain kiting and domain tasting. Other common tricks, such as Network Solutions’ practice of “front-running” (using customer search strings to pre-emptively register domain names before customers can get them), reflect the growing competitiveness in the domain name industry...

Liability of Online Service Providers: Chicago Lawyers vs. Craigslist

Posted on March 19, 2008
In Canada, what is the liability of online service providers – so-called “interactive computer services” — including Craigslist, Yahoo Groups or Facebook? The US Court of Appeals decison last week in the case of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law v...

Intellectual Property Injunctions in Canada

Posted on March 17, 2008
You win some, you lose some. An injunction is essentially a court order which prevents a company from doing something, such as using a trade-mark or a patent. It can be a very useful tool in intellectual property litigation. However, as we’ve reviewed in other cases, the test in Canada for obtaining - and maintaining - an [...

Update: Generic Trade-marks

Posted on March 12, 2008
To update our earlier post , the owner of the trade-mark CHEAP TICKETS lost at the Federal Court of Appeal in the decision in Cheaptickets and Travel Inc. v. Emall.ca Inc. et al., 2008 FCA 50. The expungement order was upheld. The court agreed with Emall that the marks were generic and “clearly descriptive” when used in [...

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Infringement of Rights in Photograph

Posted on March 05, 2008
A photographer is hired to do some work on an ad campaign. If the photographer’s bill is never paid, and the photographs are used, is it copyright infringement? The Copyright Act makes it clear that copyright would belong to the person who ordered the photographs...

Welcome to Texas: Keep Your Powder Dry

Posted on March 03, 2008
A promising Canadian company is hit with a dubious software patent owned by a US competitor. The Canadian company is based in Ontario; the US patent-holder is headquartered in Washington, DC. But the lawsuit takes place in the infamous Eastern District of Texas: the plaintiff-friendly outback of patent infringement litigation...

Business Method Patents Under Review

Posted on February 28, 2008
The US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to review a number of issues that go to the heart of business-method patents in the In re Bilski case. Essentially Bilski has claimed a method for managing risk. The claim is not tied to any software or “machine”; it is merely a mental process of [...

Industrial Design in Canada

Posted on February 25, 2008
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has released some updated tools to assist practicitioners in drafting and filing industrial design applications, including sample drawings. In Canada, industrial design protects the shape, pattern or ornamentation of a product - anything from the shape and pattern on a common metal spoon, to the design of an in-line skate, to the [...

Copyright Infringement in Canada

Posted on February 18, 2008
The story of Montrealer Gérémi Adam, who is an alleged copyright pirate, has attracted more attention after the man dropped out of sight on the date of a scheduled court appearance last month. He did appear in court yesterday to answer the charges and to plead not guilty...

MySpace Nabs UK Domain

Posted on February 11, 2008
The domain name < myspace.co.uk > was registered in August 1997, fully six years before MySpace, the now-famous social-networking site, was even founded in 2003. In a recent decision (MySpace, Inc. vs. Total Web Solutions Ltd.) under the dot-uk domain name rules, MySpace has won a dispute that appears to break new ground...

Canadian Trade-mark Battles

Posted on February 08, 2008
If we were to rank intellectual property battles over Canadian culture, last month’s dispute in PEI over the use of the trade-marks surrounding Anne of Green Gables might beat out last year’s domain name fight over Hockey Night in Canada ...

Look Out Apple, Here Comes Meizu

Posted on February 04, 2008
There was a time when the words “Made in Japan” were synonymous with cheap, low quality trinkets. Today those words are the hallmark of high-quality electronics. The words “Made in China” are on the same path. From an intellectual property and trade-mark perspective, there are cheap knock-offs - like Mickey-Mouse t-shirts and pirated DVDs...

Fast-Track Canadian Patents

Posted on February 02, 2008
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has announced its participation in the Canada-U.S. Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project. This experimental program, which has been in the works for some time, is designed to help fast-track patent examination in both Canada and the U...

Business + Technology: Resources

Posted on January 31, 2008
Some of the common issues facing Canadian businesses today are: ensuring compliance with e-commerce laws, handling employee surveillance issues and protecting brands online. The following links relate to online contracting and e-commerce in Alberta, as well as employee surveillance issues and online brand strategies for Canadian business: E-Commerce: Alberta Internet Sales Contract Regulation E-Commerce & [...

Trade-mark Injunction Update

Posted on January 31, 2008
Our earlier post reviewed one of the decisions in the ongoing trade-mark dispute between Cross-Canada Auto Body and Hyundai, the Korean car manufacturer. This is a dispute over the distribution of Hyundai auto parts. Hyundai’s injunction application recently failed on appeal (Hyundai Motor America v...

iPhone Patent Infringement Suit

Posted on January 31, 2008
It was only a matter of time before someone took a run at Apple’s famous iPhone and it is reported that Minerva Industries, Inc. launched a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple on Tuesday, mere hours after the unknown company was told that its US patent issued (Patent No...

Virtual Rights Protection

Posted on January 31, 2008
There are virtual lawyers, virtual commerce, virtual brands. So logically someone has finally opened what purports to be the Second Life Patent and Trademark Office saying: “We allow you to register, protect, and add value to your Second Life creations to protect your intellectual property rights...

E-Commerce Update

Posted on January 31, 2008
In what might be a high-water mark for online vendors, a decision of the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Schwartz v. Comcast Corporation has upheld the terms of a subscription agreement even in the absence of any proof that the customer actually knew of, let alone assented to the terms...

US Patent Reform

Posted on January 31, 2008
An interesting article in the NY Times gives an update on the US patent reform process and the battle lines that are drawn between large technology companies such as Intel, Microsoft, IBM and Apple, who are looking for ways to take away leverage from small-time patent holders, and the pharmaceutical industry which traditionally relies on robust patent protection...

Intellectual Property Control

Posted on January 31, 2008
There is growing debate (and some misinformation) about the control by private interests over the very essence of language and thought in our society. For example, some of the analysis over the Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act (which came into force in December, 2007) has suggested that anyone uttering the number “2010″ in the same breath [...

The Politics of Domain Names

Posted on January 31, 2008
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is in good company: he joins Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey and Mick Jagger, not to mention lesser celebrities such as one-time federal MPs Don Boudria and David McGuinty. This club can boast of the price that comes with celebrity in an internet age, since they’ve all had their personal names registered [...

IP and Internet Law in 2008

Posted on January 31, 2008
Four intellectual property topics to watch in the new year: Canadian Copyright Changes The government’s announcement of new copyright legislation has generated considerable debate in Canada in the last few weeks - when copyright reform hits the front page of the Globe and Mail, then you know something is up...

Open Source Resources

Posted on January 31, 2008
There seems to be a run on BusyBox litigation this fall and the lawyers at the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) have been busy; last week they filed another copyright infringement lawsuit against Verizon Communications, Inc., alleging violation of the GNU General Public License (GPL)...

Article on IP Rights

Posted on December 31, 1969
The Montreal Gazette interviewed Richard Stobbe, lawyer with Brownlee’s Technology & IP Group, for an article on intellectual property rights in the internet context. The article also provides an interesting perspective on developments in IP rights in other countries...

Microsoft: Open For Business?

Posted on December 31, 1969
Microsoft announced today that it is embracing certain interoperability principles in connection with its bread-and-butter products such as Windows Vista including the .NET Framework, Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Office 2007. This means making technical specifications and information available to make it easier for third-party software to operate with Microsoft’s products...

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