The Honourable Mr. Marshall Rothstein is a tough act to follow, especially when recounting his own majority decision. At the recent UNPACK SODRAC: Technological Change and Copyright Tariffs after CBC v SODRAC (SCC 2015) symposium, the former Supreme Court justice stood firmly by his decision in the case during his keynote address. The panelists during […]
Patent law can be a polarizing topic, but it is especially so during international trade negotiations. Perhaps this is because the principles of patent law create fundamental conflicts between those that own patents and those that pay for patents. Despite this divide, these negotiations, along with some international diplomacy, often produce patent chapters that fall […]
An overview of what the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement would change in Canadian policy The Government of Canada is inviting Canadians to read and comment on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), along with the government’s Summary of the Agreement, which provides an overview of how the TPP would affect Canada. The summary suggests that the largest […]
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) agreement pages of both the Office of the United States Trade Representative and the White House display an understandable, if not provocative, logo extolling that the trade deal is “Made in America”. For a trade deal whose negotiations spanned the length of President Obama’s term in office, this is hardly surprising: with the end of […]
The re-posting of this article is part of a cross-posting agreement with CyberLex. On December 10, 2015, the Annual Report of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (“OPC”) on the Privacy Act for 2014-2015 was tabled in Parliament. The Annual Report provides details on privacy trends and investigations involving Canadian federal departments for the past […]
The granting of a patent has often been described as a bargain [1] between the government and the patentee. In exchange for the exclusive right [2] to make, construct, use and sell their invention, the inventor will disclose the details of their discovery and, upon the patent's expiry, the invention will be made available to […]
As the new Liberal government turns its mind to the application of substantive policies, it will have to decide what to do with the Canadian orphan drug regulatory framework (ODRF) that has been in development. This framework, based in large part on the example of the United States Orphan Drug Act (US ODA), which has […]
The emergence of Chinese brands has become a global phenomenon. Not only are there exports to and local marketing within the Chinese diaspora and later generations, but Western businesses are also merging with and acquiring Chinese businesses and Western trademarks are engaging in brand extension or cross-branding with Chinese mark owners. In doing so, unexpected […]
IP Osgoode would like to thank everyone who attended Dr. Matthew Rimmer’s lecture entitled “The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Copyright Law, the Creative Industries, and Internet Freedom” on October 8, 2015 at Osgoode Hall Law School. The audio-recording of the lecture is available here. To read the IPilogue's blog and commentary about the lecture, click here.
Modern multi-lateral trade treaties do not habitually soften IP protection. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), signed October 5th, is no exception. With prescription drug costs increasingly weighing on Western nations, does the TPP strike the best balance between protecting patents and incentivizing innovation?