Silicon Valley is the nexus of the entrepreneurship in the 21st century. While European tourists may duck into a medieval church to sightsee, a Bay Area tourist may take in any number of technological cathedrals. In the Bay, it is easy to trace the history of technology companies like Google, Tesla, Hewlett Packard and Apple […]
Should all copies be treated the same way for the purposes of Copyright? If the CBC’s internal content management system creates incidental copies of audio works during the creation or broadcast of a television program or movie, does it enage the owner's Copyright under s 3(1)(d) of the Copyright Act [the "Act"]? What incentives do Canada’s […]
Fail early. Fail often. For lawyers and law students, failure is anathemal; but, in the context of design, failure is a valuable learning tool. For three days starting February 3rd, innovators, law students, and stakeholders in the creative industries descended on Osgoode for IPOsgoode's second annual hackathon.
This article is cross-posted with permission from Bereskin & Parr. The United States Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) has released an updated set of Eligibility Examination Guidelines to provide guidance to examiners on when to reject claimed inventions as ineligible abstract ideas. These guidelines give a sense of what computer-implemented subject matter the USPTO considers […]
This article is cross-posted with permission from Bereskin & Parr. It is very important to provide adequate disclosure when using “means-plus-function” claims in a U.S. patent, particularly in the field of software. “Means-plus-function” claims include elements that are defined in a functional (as opposed to structural) manner, such as “means for tying a shoe”, and […]
Canadian science fiction writer, journalist, and blogger Cory Doctorow has published a new book on Copyright and Digital Rights Management (DRM) reform Information Doesn't Want to Be Free. The book approaches these subjects from a content creator's perspective, and is a succinct and thoughtful piece that explores the challenges of Copyright and the use of Digital Rights […]
With echoes of the blockbuster Apple v Samsung case (see past IPilogue coverage here, here and here), The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) announced on Oct 6th that it will move ahead with a section 337 investigation into patent infringement claims made against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd by NVIDIA Corp. The plaintiff alleges infringement of seven of its patents. This claim could potentially […]