IP Reform

Cracking Down on Green Mountain Trolls

Watch out, patent trolls - the Attorney General of Vermont is coming to get you. Vermont recently became the first US state to enact an anti-"patent trolling" law.

A Cautionary Kudos: Canada Moves Up on USTR IP Watch List

Earlier this month, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its annual “Special 301 Report,” which evaluates the intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement of its trading partners. Over the last few years, Canada has been listed on the “Priority Watch List”, which is reserved for countries that have the most deficient IP protection […]

New Step for the Modernization of Copyright Law in the US – Progress or Regress?

During the celebration of World Intellectual Property Day on April 24, 2013, the US Committee on the Judiciary announced its intention to promote a comprehensive review of US copyright law in order to modernize copyright protection in the US.

Strike Three, Viacom

If at first you don’t succeed, Viacom, try try again?  On April 18, 2013, Judge Louise Stanton of the 2nd Circuit District Court effectively wrote the last chapter in the epic one billion dollar copyright battle between Viacom and YouTube.

Game of Thones - Piracy is Coming

TorrentFreak has reported that the first episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones season three broke historic download records, with more than a million as of April 1st, 2013. Canada ranked fourth internationally in terms of the highest number of TorrentFreak S3E1 downloads, representing 7.4% of total downloads at the time of reporting.

The Living Daylights (…Scents, Tastes, and Sounds): Bill C-56 Forebodes Drastic Trade-mark Reform

Bill C-56, a new and inevitably controversial piece of proposed legislation, was introduced on March 1, 2013. With the short title, Combating Counterfeit Products Act, the message seems simple, but contained within it are extensive proposals to change both the Copyright Act and the Trade-marks Act in Canada.

Bill C-56 Remedies: Rights Holders Can All Feel a Little Safer

Bill C-56, the “Combating Counterfeit Products Act”, went through its first reading on March 1st 2013. The primary goal of the bill, from the perspective of the government, is to modernize our infringement legislation in order to better protect consumers and businesses from counterfeit goods.

Mario Bouchard: Copyright Quintet opus 1. no.1, by McLachlin et al

On January 28, 2013, to a room full of intellectual property lawyers at an ALAI Canada luncheon meeting, IP Osgoode Advisory Board Member Mario Bouchard, general counsel to  the Copyright Board of Canada, presented his analysis of the initial impact of the Supreme Court' of Canada's copyright pentalogy and the portion of the Copyright Modernization Act […]

Pride and Property: IP Law, Traditional Knowledge, and Cultural Heritage

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single culture in possession of good traditional knowledge must be in want of intellectual property rights.”

Defriend: Privacy Concerns are back in the Newsfeed

An Austrian student studying law in Silicon Valley has raised serious flags about Facebook’s lack of adherence to privacy law and disclosure regulation.