Topic: General

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UPDATE: Canadian Intellectual Property Office further extends all deadlines to May 1st

Catherine Daigle (CA)Mark Edward Davis (CA)By Catherine Daigle (CA) and Mark Edward Davis (CA) on Posted in Copyright, General, Trademark
In response to the continuing disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak,  the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced on March 27, 2020 a further extension for filing deadlines  – all deadlines ending in the month of April 2020 will automatically be extended to May 1, 2020. Parties in proceedings before the Trademarks Opposition Board should … Continue reading

Online Brand Management: Avoiding Toxic Social Influencers

Bianca Pietracupa (CA)Elizabeth Williams (CA)Amy Grenon (CA)By Bianca Pietracupa (CA), Elizabeth Williams (CA) and Amy Grenon (CA) on Posted in Advertising, General, Trademark
Online brand protection must be taken into consideration, particularly when faced with changing consumer behavior, market uncertainty and rampant misinformation. Social influencers with large audiences that value their opinions on consumer products and health regimes are a valuable tool for companies and governments looking to reach large online communities quickly. However, some influencers have been … Continue reading

Response from Canadian Courts to COVID-19

Madeleine Hodgson (CA)Renaud Garon GendronMat Brechtel (CA)Mark Edward Davis (CA)By Madeleine Hodgson (CA), Renaud Garon Gendron, Mat Brechtel (CA) and Mark Edward Davis (CA) on Posted in Copyright, General, Patents, Trademark
We know you have a lot to think about and plan right now and over the next few weeks. You can rely on us to keep your intellectual property litigation matters  moving forward.  To that end, we wanted to provide an update on the measures courts across Canada are taking to combat the spread of … Continue reading

UPDATE ON COVID-19 : CIPO announces extensions in wake of outbreak in Canada

Mihaela DumitreanCatherine Daigle (CA)Mat Brechtel (CA)By Mihaela Dumitrean, Catherine Daigle (CA) and Mat Brechtel (CA) on Posted in Copyright, General, Patents, Trademark
Given the many challenges faced by all businesses in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has advised that it will relax filing deadlines for the remainder of March 2020.  This decision was first announced on March 16, 2020 and further updated yesterday, March 19, 2020. What you need to know All … Continue reading

Stranger than Sci-Fi: Can (and should) Artificial Intelligence machines own intellectual property?

Frances Drummond (AU)Isobel Taylor (AU)By Frances Drummond (AU) and Isobel Taylor (AU) on Posted in Copyright, General
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, refers to the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour. Though it sounds like something out of a sci-fi film, the reality is that AI is quickly becoming a norm in our everyday lives, from the simple AI systems used to sort email inboxes, to complex AI systems known … Continue reading

Securing a Site-blocking Order in Canada: Sure! But how?

Renaud Garon GendronFortunat Nadima NadimaBy Renaud Garon Gendron and Fortunat Nadima Nadima on Posted in Copyright, General
The Federal Court has recently issued an order compelling Internet service providers (ISPs) to block their customers from accessing pirate subscription streaming sites operated by anonymous defendants. Although Bell Media Inc. v. GoldTV.Biz, 2019 FC 1432 is the first decision of its kind in Canada, the Court held that site-blocking orders fall squarely within its … Continue reading

CIIs – The Australian Full Court Encompass Decision

Helen Macpherson (AU)Harrison Ottaway (AU)By Helen Macpherson (AU) and Harrison Ottaway (AU) on Posted in General, Patents
Overview The patentability of computer implemented inventions (CII) has long been a contentious topic in Australian patent law. A few months ago, we wrote about Justice Robertson’s decision in Rokt Pte Ltd v Commissioner of Patents, which overturned the Australian Patent Office’s rejection of a patent application for a CII relating to a digital advertising … Continue reading

Review of sugar labelling a sweet victory for health advocates, and yet more packaging and labelling changes required for business in Australia?

Georgina Hey (AU)By Georgina Hey (AU) and Emily Hong on Posted in General
Shoppers reaching for a sweet, refreshing bottle of soft drink may soon find themselves confronted by the sour reality of 33 small icons of teaspoons – equivalent to the average sugar content of 1.25 litres of soft drink (see here). The Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation (Forum) recently announced a review … Continue reading

Fakes welcome? IP protection lags behind for Indigenous artworks in Australia

Helen Macpherson (AU)Isobel Taylor (AU)By Helen Macpherson (AU) and Isobel Taylor (AU) on Posted in Copyright, General
In a symbolic win for Indigenous artists, the Federal Court of Australia has recently ordered a seller of fake Indigenous-style souvenirs to pay AU$2.3 million in pecuniary penalties for contraventions of the misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). While the Court’s ruling appears to be a positive move in the … Continue reading

Calidad v Seiko – defining the scope of the implied licence

Helen Macpherson (AU)Harrison Ottaway (AU)By Helen Macpherson (AU) and Harrison Ottaway (AU) on Posted in General
One of the more controversial questions in patent law is the extent to which a patentee may continue to exercise control over patent-protected goods after their sale. This question invokes competing tensions between the rights of the patentee and the rights of the purchaser to free enjoyment of goods they have purchased. In a number … Continue reading

Ghost of rulings past: why virtual designs are not yet covered by Australian IP law

Isobel Taylor (AU)Georgina Hey (AU)By Isobel Taylor (AU) and Georgina Hey (AU) on Posted in General
Virtual or non-physical designs, which include graphical user interfaces and screen icons, are designs that impact the appearance of a product through software displayed on an electronic screen. Many of these designs have become ubiquitous in our everyday lives. Well-known and familiar virtual designs range from the Snapchat ghost app button on our phones to … Continue reading

Are you kicking goals when it comes to social media activity, or heading to the sin bin?

Rebecca Brenikov (AU)Alyson Poole (AU)By Rebecca Brenikov (AU) and Alyson Poole (AU) on Posted in Advertising, Copyright, General
They say that a picture tells a thousand words.  But as became apparent in Australia recently, posting a picture on social media can result in a thousand (derogatory and sexist) words. A photograph posted on Twitter by Seven AFL (taken by photographer Michael Wilson), resulted in Australian female AFLW star, Taylor Harris, hitting all the … Continue reading

Don’t Rokt the boat: developments in the patentability of computer implemented inventions in Australia

Helen Macpherson (AU)Isobel Taylor (AU)By Helen Macpherson (AU) and Isobel Taylor (AU) on Posted in General
With the continued rise of digital technologies and mining of big data, computer implemented inventions (CIIs) are being increasingly utilised in a wide range of industries. CIIs enable companies to deliver more personalised products and solutions to consumers, whether in the form of more personalised medical treatments and diagnostic tools in the pharmaceutical and healthcare … Continue reading

Brexit: trademarks and designs

Clare Jackman (UK)By Clare Jackman (UK) on Posted in General
It won’t be news to you that there is still a great deal of uncertainty around Brexit and, with the March 29, 2019 looming, we do not yet know if the UK will exit in an orderly fashion (with a deal and with a transition period), obtain an extension of the negotiating period with a view to agreeing terms, crash out without a deal or, reverse the process altogether.… Continue reading

Bill C-86 – Tinkering with official marks in Canada

Mat Brechtel (CA)By Mat Brechtel (CA) on Posted in General
In addition to its more substantive changes to IP law, budget implementation Bill C-86 also takes the opportunity to fix a curious, and perhaps unintended, aspect of Canada’s official marks scheme. Official marks are marks that appear on the trademark register once they are adopted by a public authority.  Unlike trademarks, which are subject to expungement … Continue reading

Bill C-86 — significant changes to Canada’s IP regime

Amy Grenon (CA)By Amy Grenon (CA) on Posted in Copyright, General, Trademark
The federal government’s recent omnibus budget bill, Bill C-86 tabled October 29th, 2018, proposes significant changes to Canada’s IP laws. Division 7 of the Bill is intended to implement many aspects of the government’s IP strategy announced in April 2018, and targets the Patent Act, the Trade-marks Act, and Copyright Act; provides for a new … Continue reading

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Jonathan Ball (UK)By Jonathan Ball (UK) on Posted in Copyright, General
Wolves bare their fangs over copyright infringement claim You’d think that newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers would have enough on their plate just ensuring survival in the Premiership. Unfortunately, the club now has another worry given that it has been sued in the intellectual property courts in London by an individual who claims copyright in the … Continue reading

No deal better than a bad deal?

Farah Mukaddam (UK)By Farah Mukaddam (UK) on Posted in General
Latest guidance from the UK Government on implications of ‘no-deal’ Brexit for IP rights holders On September 24, 2018, the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published a further series of technical notices on how intellectual property (IP) rights holders might be affected if the United Kingdom (UK) leaves the European Union (EU) in March 2019 … Continue reading

Amended Australian IP laws receive Royal Assent with little fanfare

Georgina Hey (AU)Isobel Taylor (AU)By Georgina Hey (AU) and Isobel Taylor (AU) on Posted in Copyright, General, Trademark
On 24 August 2018, the creatively named Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 1 and Other Measures) Bill 2018 quietly received Royal Assent, with some parts of the new Act entering into force the following day. As the name indicates, the primary focus of the new legislation is to implement the recommendations made … Continue reading

Social media influencers – to “like” or not to “like?”

Frances Drummond (AU)Rebecca Brenikov (AU)By Frances Drummond (AU) and Rebecca Brenikov (AU) on Posted in Advertising, General
Today, social media influencers are a key resource used by businesses to engage with consumers. Influencers include celebrities, bloggers or simply popular social media users in speciality areas like beauty or travel. Social media influencers’ posts can attract thousands, and sometimes millions, of views and likes. Such exposure allows businesses to instantly engage with a … Continue reading

What Brexit means for IP: The UK Law Society, the IP Bar, CIPA and CITMA weigh in on Brexit strategy

Georgina Hey (AU)Rebecca Brenikov (AU)By Georgina Hey (AU) and Rebecca Brenikov (AU) on Posted in Advertising, General, Trademark
It’s no surprise that many in the professional and legal services industries are putting increasing thought into what the post-Brexit world will, or should, look like. The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) in the UK has been the latest body to put its two cents (or pennies) into the mix. Brand owners from all … Continue reading
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