The notion of originality in copyright seems to reinforce an outdated assumption of author as a singular creator. Today, there are a plethora of cases that defy this notion. Most notably is act of collaboration and collective production. The notion of collective production is clearly illustrated in the example of current mainstream popular music production. […]
In its Strategic Plan published in 2006, Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation called for the generation of an “innovation culture” in Ontario with one goal of increasing the commercialization of research taking place at universities. I could not help but think of my own experience as a grad student in a cell biology research […]
The proposition that consumers are confused by the use of geographical indicators (GIs) by producers other than those from the specified geographic region is arguably a weak one. Evidence that GIs have become generic terms in many countries bolsters this argument because consumers generally do not consider generic marks to be indicia of source. However, […]
Open Access, Competition, and Spectrum Auctions This past week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US announced the winners of their 700Mhz spectrum auction, with Verizon and AT&T being the big winners. In bidding 19.6 billion dollars in the process, the winners secured rights to broadcast on a very desirable swath of radio frequency […]
In late 2007, Virgin Enterprises successfully opposed the registration of “VIRGIN CANDLES” in Israel. The applicant sought to register the TM in association with candles. The Israel Patent and Trademark Office accepted that because Virgin is a famous TM and had a large range of products and widespread international distribution, a likelihood of confusion did […]
Issues surrounding medicine patents truly test the moral groundings of patent law. Specifically, when companies develop and patent drugs that treat life threatening diseases, the inherent morality behind restrictive patent laws seems to lose legitimacy. The objectives underlying intellectual property must be weighed against the immediate humanitarian agenda. The anti-patent camp can argue that corporations […]
On January 28th, 2008, the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and the IZDIHAR Project co-hosted Iraq’s first Iraqi Copyright Awareness Conference. While it was awarded minimal media coverage, the rare congregation of authors, creators, painters, innovators and government representatives exemplified the manner in which the political and social landscape is shifting in post-Saddam Iraq. The conference […]
Editor's Note: On Monday, March 10, 2008, Prof. Lametti delivered the lecture archived here. Thanks for those of you who joined us! If you are unable to see the video above, please use the following link to open Windows Media Player on your computer: Link Bio: David Lametti is an Associate Professor of Law, McGill […]
A reason why 'new world' countries should support the protection of geographical indicators (GIs) is because the GI concept can be applied to aboriginal art so that its integrity and underlying traditional knowledge are preserved. In "Intellectual Property and Aboriginal Art,"[1] Adrian Newstead explores the misappropriation of Australian aboriginal art forms by non-aboriginals. There are […]
Editor's note: Thanks to those of you who joined us for the lecture! This page will now provide an archive of the lecture. If you are unable to see the video above, please use the following link to open Windows Media Player on your computer: Link Abstract: In December 2007, the Canadian government planned to […]