Peter Waldkirch is a second year LL.B. student at the University of Ottawa. Utter the words “online copyright infringement” and most people probably think of the mass distribution of popular music on peer-to-peer networks or Hollywood movies being downloaded through bittorrent. A recent brouhaha over the unauthorized use of photographs uploaded to Flickr (a photograph […]
Nathan Fan is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. When Toronto-based i4i Inc. suspected their software patent had been infringed by Microsoft Corp., they rallied their resources and launched a lawsuit against the software giant in March 2007. i4i’s patent was granted in 1998 for their XML software which allowed users to manage large amounts […]
Ren Bucholz is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Intellectual Property Theory course. Copyright holders, like musicians, have a knack for riffing on ideas from the past. Consider the many variations of the copyright infringement lawsuit. Every year brings more examples of a rights-holder who hears some element of their song, […]
Virgil Cojocaru is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Professor Emir Aly Crowne-Mohammed and Yonatan Rozenszajn argue in their article, DRM Roll Please: Is Digital Rights Management Legislation Unconstitutional in Canada? that the Digital Rights Management (DRM) Provisions in Bill C-61 are ultra vires (Latin for “beyond the powers”) of Parliament’s power under […]
Brian Chau is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Given the essential role that entrepreneurs play in driving the economy, there is no question that the creation of patent laws must take into account the protection of their interests. From a small business perspective, patents play a large role not only in helping protect their inventions […]
Brandon Evenson is a 2010 JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Queen’s University. Prior to attending Osgoode, Mr. Evenson consulted for some of the world’s leading technology firms in the area of contract risk and licensing compliance. Last Thursday, IP Osgoode hosted Chris Castle, managing partner […]
Virgil Cojocaru is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. ‘The Long Tail’, written by Chris Anderson refers to the alleged effect of online stores such as Netflix appealing to smaller niches. Individually these niches do not yield a large profit, but collectively (hence the long part) they can provide a handsome reward. Some […]
Amanda Carpenter is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. On September 21, 2009, The New York Times featured an article entitled “Patent Auctions Offer Protections to Inventors”. This article is about the story of a small-inventor firm called Zoltar Satellite Alarm Systems and their battles with big corporations over its patented inventions. In […]
Brian Chau is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Where do we draw the line between commercial and non-commercial uses? Is this view the same across content creators and users? A quick background Creative commons licences are designed to help content creators (who own the copyright) communicate to their users which rights they […]
Beer companies are notorious for their litigious ways and this summer has seen a continuation in the legal drama. In May 2009, beer giant Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd. launched a lawsuit against the Waterloo-based Brick Brewing Co. Ltd., regarding the similarity of the Brava and Red Baron bottles. Labatt, who acquired Brava in 2007 when […]