Home » 2012 (Page 18)

Of Genes, Spleens and Property

Imagine a world of great biotechnological promise where the hope of preventative, diagnostic and treatment medicine to illness and disease is more of a reality than ever before. Further, imagine that this world has, in hand, a map of the entire human genome with bits of DNA no longer lying in wait for discovery but […]

Evidence Of Parasitic Intent Not Unfounded: L’Oreal

Advocate General Mengozzi delivered his opinion to the European Union’s Court of Justice (ECJ), on February 16 2012, denying the Appeal sought by Helena Rubenstein SNC and L’Oreal SA concerning the Community trademarks BOTOLIST and BOTOCYL. Botox was registered as a word mark from 1991 to 2003 for goods in Class 5 of the Nice […]

Copyright Reform, The Irish Way

The current copyright statute in Ireland is the Copyright & Related Rights Act 2000. It was changed (a little) to bring Irish law into line with the EU Copyright Directive (2001), but not much has happened since. But following a promise in the coalition agreement after the 2011 general election, a Copyright Review Committee (chaired […]

Patenting Health: You Cannot Own the Laws of Nature

On March 20, 2012, the United States Supreme Court decided Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 132 S. Ct. 1289 (U.S. 2012). The case was unanimous and emphatically reaffirmed that United States patent law does not allow ownership of “laws of nature.” The context was a pair of patents owned by Prometheus which claimed […]

Two Years to Trial, Three Years Later

Three years ago, the Federal Court announced a plan to try to schedule trials within two years of the commencement of the proceeding. Since that time, many new patent cases have been commenced and some trials have been scheduled and heard. Has the court met its goals for patent infringement actions? In Canada, most patent […]

Bill C-11: Through the Lens of Social Norms

The Copyright Modernization Act (Bill C-11) has generated much discussion on its merits and deficiencies. However, one issue that commentators have not discussed in depth is the relationship between laws and social norms. Specifically, whether any amendments to copyright law in Canada will have an effect on user behaviour given the social acceptability of copyright […]

Should Canada Strengthen IP Protection for Pharmaceutical Products? The European Union Thinks So…

The Canadian government and European Union (EU) are currently negotiating a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).  A key issue has been ensuring that Canadian intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical products are brought in line with EU standards.  It appears that the EU believes Canada’s legal regime regulating the approval of drugs does not provide […]