Home » 2009 (Page 32)

RAND Report on Film Piracy: Gas on the Flame

Stuart Freen is a first year law student at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Legal Values: Challenges in Intellectual Property course On Tuesday, the RAND Corporation released their latest report “Film Piracy, Organized Crime, and Terrorism”. The report was authored by the independent non-profit think-tank RAND but was funded by a grant from the Motion […]

Dare I use the term “netbook”?

Have you seen that new Sony Netbook? The one small enough to fit in your purse? The term netbook is typically used to describe ultra-portable network-enabled laptop computers that are used primarily for low intensity wireless activities like emailing and surfing the web. The typical size of a netbook screen ranges from seven inches to […]

Herdict Web: A User-Empowering Approach to Online Censorship

“Herdict.org- the Verdict of the Herd,” as introduced by ‘Shep the Sheep’ in this video, alludes to the phenomenon of real-time aggregation of information on the current status of the internet. The focus of this project is to rigorously enumerate the various instances of internet filtering taking place around the world by empowering the users […]

Web Linking Trademark Dispute Settled

A settlement has been reached in the U.S. trademark/web linking dispute between law firm Jones Day and real estate information site BlockShopper.com. Jones Day had sought to prevent BlockShopper from linking to Jones Day’s site because they claimed BlockShopper improperly used Jones Day’s marks and gave the impression that Jones Day somehow approved or was […]

Patent Reform May Thwart Obama’s Alternative Energy Efforts

Stephanie Anderson is a first year J.D. candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. The United States has long been awaiting Congress to finally agree on proposed patent reform issues, and it seems the anticipation may soon end in the coming months for scientists and researchers. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for March and April of this […]

Pharmaceutical Industry Jumps Into the Patent Pool

In a move that signals a completely new approach in its industry, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced that it will participate in a patent pool to allow access to patented chemicals and processes for development of treatment options relating to neglected diseases. The pharmaceutical industry has long taken criticism for the price of medicines, […]

“Ducking” TRIPS: Novartis and the legality of Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act

Professor Shamnad Basheer (National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata) is an IP Osgoode Research Affiliate and is also the founder of SpicyIP, a leading blog dedicated to analyzing IP and innovation policy news and cases from India. Glivec, a path-breaking anticancer drug by Novartis propelled Indian patent law onto the world stage in an interesting […]

Is copyright-driven economy of symbolic goods the most efficient?

Denis Barbosa is a Brazilian lawyer and Law Professor. He is Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the Graduate Division of the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, and also at a number of other graduate programs in law schools elsewhere in the country.  Professor Barbosa is a member of IP Osgoode’s international advisory council.   […]

Resolution to Kindle 2’s Text-to-Speech Issue Benefits All Involved

The paperless office is yet to arrive, but that hasn’t stopped companies from introducing innovative ways of consuming written materials. One such attempt is Amazon.com’s e-book, called ‘Kindle’. When first released in late 2007, I looked at how purchasers of content for the device may be limited in their ability to re-sell their copy of […]

IP Rights and the Modern University

Michael Kostiuk is a first year law student at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Legal Values: Challenges in Intellectual Property course Adherents to rights-based theory have long posited that a creator possesses an inherent and inalienable initial right to her respective creation.  After all, with no possessory rights, why would anyone create at all? […]