The Value of the Pokémon Franchise If you were born in the late 1980s or early 90s or have young children, you have probably encountered a red-cheeked mouse called Pikachu or any of the hundreds of other Pokémon that exist in the Pokémon media franchise. While the premise of catching colourful creatures is rather straightforward, […]
Each day we seem to encounter a new technological development that changes, in subtle but significant ways, how we consume information, conduct business, manage our personal health, or simply communicate with one another. Inevitably, with such developments, intellectual property (IP) and related areas of the law are implicated. This Special Issue provides an opportunity to […]
Recent developments in the ongoing trademark dispute involving Asian American dance rock band "The Slants" have reignited discussion regarding disparaging marks and free speech. Last month the band argued before a U.S. appeals court that the government’s rejection of its trademark application pursuant to "the provision in the Lanham Act that bars disparaging trademarks violates the First Amendment and should be […]
A decade and a half since music industry titans like the rock group Metallica launched legal action to shut down the largest (unauthorized) distributor of recorded content, the ways that fans and audiophiles are able to access music and other cultural resources appear, once again, to be in flux. 2015 has already seen the headline […]
Converse, a subsidiary of Nike[1], has recently filed 22 separate lawsuits against 31 retailers and shoe designers, claiming trademark infringement for the design of their classic “Converse All Stars” shoes. Defendants include giant retailers Kmart and Wal-Mart and designers such as Sketchers, Fila and H&M.
What an experience! Osgoode's team is back from their weekend of competition at the Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property Moot, and boy did we get a 'bargain'!
Daniel Whalen won Canada's IP Writing Challenge last year for his article, "Everything Old is New Again: Reframing the Cultural Explanation for Intellectual Property Infringement in China." In anticipation for the next edition of Canada's IP Writing Challenge, we would like to share the introduction to Daniel's award-winning submission. Please enjoy and watch out next week […]
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.
What an experience! Following months of intense preparation, the fourth annual Harold G. Fox Moot took place last weekend – much to the enjoyment and satisfied relief of all those involved. With the competition now behind us, the team has a few reflections and words of thanks to offer. This year’s moot problem centered on […]
Alysia Lau is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School who took part in the inaugural offering of the Intellectual Property Law and Technology Intensive Program (IP Intensive) in the Fall of 2011. As part of the course requirements, students were asked to write a blog on a topic of their choice. This past August, […]