Home » 2010 (Page 4)

Facebook Announces Email Service

Stuart Freen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Monday that the site’s instant messaging system will soon be getting a major overhaul. The revamped system aims to integrate email, instant messaging and text messaging, and will offer users @facebook.com email addresses. Analysts suggest the move will […]

Altering genes in crops

Ivy Tsui is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School “Matooke” means more than just the word “banana” in Uganda – it is synonymous with “food” in the local language. However, a bacterium called banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) has been infecting bananas in Africa, causing them to wilt and rot.  The destruction of this […]

Patents on Steroids: Professor Dutfield’s Lecture on the Evolution of Patent Law in the Life Sciences

Steven Zuccarelli is a J.D. Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School On 28 October 2010, IP Osgoode hosted Professor Graham Dutfield of the University of Leeds School of Law, who discussed research that demonstrates how the development and commercialization of hormones as pharmaceuticals represents an example of how IP policy, scientific developments, and the business […]

Moral Rights 2.0

Samantha Schreiber is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Peter K. Yu, an IP Osgoode Research Affiliate, examines the impact of external influences on the development of moral rights both in Europe and in the United States. Although there are disparities between the copyright law regimes of Europe and the United States, […]

Botox vs Botumax: EGC rules TM case in favour of Botox

Nathan Fan is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Whether it’s the topic of discussion in a cosmetics magazine or the latest legal defence, the botulinum toxin (aka ‘Botox’) makes its reputation known around the world. Thanks in part to the product’s marketing and placement in the Hollywood limelight, Allergan, Inc. has enjoyed a […]

CRTC Debates Making Broadband Access a “Basic Service”

Stuart Freen is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Should high-speed internet be regulated as a basic service available to all Canadians, even those in remote rural locations? The CRTC grappled with this question over the past two weeks, hearing submissions from stakeholders including the nation’s major ISPs. Proposals to extend coverage nationwide […]

US Government Takes A Side In Gene Patent Debate

Dan Whalen is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School In a recent amicus brief, the US Department of Justice has suggested that patents for “isolated human genomic DNA” be invalidated, a significant change to the longstanding practice of gene patenting. The surprising proposition comes in response to an appeal by Myriad Genetics of […]

Permanent Injunction Shuts Down LimeWire

Leslie Chong is a J.D. Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Following the court’s earlier ruling (our commentary here) in favour of The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), LimeWire has shut down its services after being served with a federal injunction that disables “LimeWire’s searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and distribution features, effective immediately.” […]

“Loophole” Tightens Around Double Patenting

Dan Whalen is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Bayer was dealt a blow when the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the decision to deny the company a patent of a medical compound because it held a product-by-process patent for the substance already. In 1987, when the pharmaceutical giant received said rights, the […]

Violent Video Games on Trial

Matt Lonsdale is a JD candidate at Dalhousie University The average teenager may not pay much attention to the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, but they might want to make an exception for Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association today. The case is a challenge to a 2005 California law which prohibits the sale of […]