Social networking has taken on a new dimension at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). It has been over a year since the USPTO, in collaboration with New York Law School, initiated the Peer-to-Patent Pilot, a venture designed to bring the benefits of peer review to the patent application process. If the decision […]
A recent tainted milk disaster in China has killed at least three infants and made thousands of others sick. Several countries have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products in response. Economic and health experts are still trying to measure the impact of the melamine contamination. But with allegations of cover-ups and corruption, this catastrophe raises […]
The definition of the boundaries of art, and the privileges of the people who produce ever-evolving art forms, have historically been contentious issues among the general public, however, household and classroom debates typically remained outside of the realm of copyrights. A recent article from the National Post spoke of a case where a photographer of graffiti […]
On September 25, 2008, VANOC (The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee) held a press conference to announce the new slogan for the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games to be held in 2010 in Vancouver and Whistler. VANOC boss John Furlong asserted that the motto is decided with an attempt to “touch […]
With the proliferation of open source web collaboration tools such as SourceForge, Wikipedia, and blogs, important concerns have been raised regarding a tool users’ ability to restrict the content they create. At the heart of the debate is whether a work, released for free public use, can still have restrictions attached via an open source […]
At this week’s Republican National Convention, U.S. presidential candidate John McCain accepted his party’s nomination in front of a picture of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. But there was one small problem. He instead used a picture of the Walter Reed Middle School. While the McCain campaign was silent on the error, they received […]
Just days ago, a U.S. court made a decision that has reinforced the strength of “fair use”. From the EFF: “A judge’s ruling today is a major victory for free speech and fair use on the Internet, and will help protect everyone who creates content for the Web. In Lenz v. Universal (aka the ‘dancing […]
Today the Conference Board of Canada gave Canada another “D” grade for innovation. As indicated on the Board website, Canada is at the back of the class. As last year, where Canada also got a “D” grade, this should be another alarming call to government, industry, and members of the public that we need to do our homework. […]
“Not all Sides represented in the debate on copyright bill” was published in the Toronto Star, June 19, AA8. The long-awaited copyright bill is about much more than copying music onto iPods or throwing kids in jail (and, no, the bill doesn’t endorse this, contrary to sensationalized beliefs). The bill is important and affects us […]
On June 12, 2008 the Ministers of Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage tabled Bill C-61 in Parliament. The Bill is expected to go to Second Reading at some point in the Fall at which stage will go to committee for review. You can find the Bill at: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=3570473&file=4 Since the Bill’s debut, copyright has been the […]