E-mail emerged as an informal and humble means of electronic global communication. Now ubiquitous in business communications and transactions, e-mail is on the verge of becoming a key mover and shaker of modern day contract law. One of the most important features of a contract is offer and acceptance, which is often referred to as […]
In George Nathanael’s post titled “Protecting Graffiti Artists”, he proposed that withholding copyright protection for graffiti is the best response to the question of whether creators of graffiti should be protected the same way as other artists who create murals on their own property. The dilemma of rewarding someone who created a work of art in […]
This past Tuesday, as part of the IP Osgoode Speaks series, Tony Chapman, founder and CEO of Capital C Marketing Group, gave a talk about the need for Canada’s industries to generally change the way they do business. The event was hosted in one of the vibrant seminar rooms of Capital C in downtown Toronto. […]
In the U.S. case Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa, the the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit adopted an “ordinary observer” test for determining whether a design patent (also known as an industrial design) has been infringed. Prior to this case, courts often used a “point of novelty” test: identify the point of novelty […]
On Wednesday November 18, 2008 the Right Honourable Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean delivered the Government’s Speech from the Throne, and so dawned Canada’s 40th session of Parliament. The speech outlined the Conservative government’s goals for its term in power under the shadow of the current economic storm looming over the world. Though much […]
The buzz around ‘net neutrality’ has started again. ‘Net neutrality’ is a term that became widely used and debated in the early 2000s. Simply put ‘net neutrality’ means ‘absolute non-discrimination’ against any site or content on the net. In particular, the term suggests that users should have equal access to the internet and that broadband […]
Limoncello is a generic term for a type of Italian lemon liqueur. However, in Shaker di L. Laudato & C. Sas v. OHIM, the (European) Court of First Instance held that Shaker’s design mark, which prominently featured the word ‘Limoncello’, was confusing with the earlier Spanish word mark ‘Limonchelo’. The Court reached this decision by […]
In Argentina, Google and Yahoo! have blocked the results of several searches on famous people, in response to an injunction from an Argentinean judge. Several lawsuits from athletes, entertainers, and political figures have led to a judicial order to block defamatory and pornographic search results. While the order did not target all search results on […]
On Nov. 7, the Federal Court of Appeal released their decision in eBay v. Minister of National Revenue, 2008 FCA 348. This case involved the appeal of an ex parte order of the Federal Court under s. 231.2 of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) to produce information identifying “PowerSellers” in […]
We live in an economy where manufacturers constantly strive to protect and increase their market share. Strategic intellectual property protection can be a great way to ensure product exclusivity, but can, and should, a single product enjoy several different forms of IP protection? One area where this overlap can occur is between industrial designs and […]