Courts frequently rely on cognitive science to help decide the correct outcome in Intellectual Property cases - particularly in trade-mark disputes with respect to confusion. A recent case before the Patent Court of England and Wales, has raised interesting cognitive science issues with respect to novelty and public domain. As a defense to patent infringement, […]
On July 30, 2009, Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey introduced a bill entitled Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 ("Bill"). The Bill marks Markey's third attempt to legislate on network neutrality, this time attempting to put the onus on Internet service providers to upgrade their infrastructure rather than allowing them to degrade or block traffic. This […]
On Friday, July 31st, the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act” by a narrow three-vote margin. The bill was introduced in the House by Wisconsin Democrat Representative John Dingell. Representatives from around the country stated that the bill “will deliver the results the nation’s health care system […]
There is an interesting debate going on right now between William Patry and Ben Sheffner at the Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars blog. It centres on the verdicts in two recent high-profile p2p trafficking cases launched by RIAA against regular people (Jammie Thomas-Rasset and Joel Tenenbaum). In Thomas-Rasset's case, a jury awarded damages against […]
Mark Rogers (Harris Manchester College, Oxford University) focuses on applied analysis of intellectual property and performance in his research. He is an IP Osgoode Research Affiliate. The role of IP in the UK, as elsewhere, is under active debate. In 2006 the Gowers Review of IP looked at all aspects of IP, although with a particular […]
Graham Reynolds is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, a member of Dalhousie Law School's Law and Technology Institute and the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Law and Technology. He is also an IP Osgoode Research Affiliate. Have you ever wanted to see Metric's […]
Google knows what I'm doing 88% of the time. I've voluntarily given Facebook details of many aspects about my personal, work and school lives. These two companies probably know more about me than I do. And I'm not scared. I doubt Mark Zuckerberg will be emailing a---hypothetical, I assure you---compromising photo from my Facebook profile […]
Recently the Federal Court of Australia introduced a fast track IP litigation procedure which makes copyright and trademark litigation faster and more cost effective. Studying the Australian fast track procedure is fruitful because Canada also suffers from expensive and time consuming IP litigation and because similarities between the two legal systems means that following Australian […]
Oh Wal-Mart. I can't live with you and I can't live without you. You are that big bad department store having driven one too many mom and pop shops out of business. Yet you are my wallet's saviour. It's a love-hate relationship. I would not be surprised if the United Food and Commercial Workers Union […]
In a recent presentation delivered at MIT, Professor Edward Roberts and Charles Eesley discussed the findings of a report that they co-authored on the role of universities in the level of success ultimately attained by companies founded by their graduates. Understandably, an emphasis was placed on the economic success achieved by start-up companies created by […]