Now, Why Didn’t I Think of That?

Apparently Robert Half Legal (a legal recruiting company) recently conducted a survey of 200 lawyers among the largest law firms and corporations in the United States and Canada - asking them what career alternative they would chose if they were to quit their current job.

Perhaps not surprisingly the most popular choice was the area […]

The Winnipeg Sun today reports that Mattel Inc. is in a legal tangle over the BARBIE trademark and that it is battling a Canadian restaurateur over the applied for mark BARBIE’S & Design - even though the latter refers to the restaurant’s barbecued food.

Thus far, the Trade-Marks Opposition Board dismissed Mattel’s opposition, the Federal […]

Today’s Trade-marks Journal had a number of amusing trade-mark applications advertised, including:

NAKED BURGERS - 1,213,718, by Top Meadow Meats Ltd. in relation to packaged hamburgers;

NAKED LOBSTER - 1,232,405, by Ocean Choice International Inc. in relation to fresh and frozen lobster;

ALCOHOLICS FOR CHRIST - 1,221,661, for counselling in the field of alcohol and drug rehabilitation;

MUFFALOOSE […]

The Globe and Mail has an interesting article about the effect that digitization and electronic transmission is having on the way music is distributed (and controlled).

In the article Peter de Jager, argues that when it comes to digital files, copyright is dead - because it is impossible, despite thousands of record industry lawsuits […]

Yesterday CNET’s News.com reported that the company which holds the patent covering V-chip television technology has taken an uncommon step in a patent infringement suit - filing the suit against a retailer rather than a manufacturer. The alleged infringing devices are Prima brand televisions.

The V-chip technology allows parents to block violent or other objectionable […]

It’s been 99 years since the Wright Brothers received a U.S. patent for their flying machine (U.S. 821,393 issued on May 22, 1906).

The much anticipated decision by our Federal Court of Appeal in the case of BMG Canada Inc v John Doe was released today (see pdf version). The ruling was not a win for either party but rather a divided success.

The court did uphold part of the lower court’s decision and denied CRIA’s request […]

The Globe and Mail, in their Bar Talk column today, reports that Roger T. Hughes, Q.C., veteran intellectual property litigator, has been offered a seat on the Federal Court of Canada starting June 1 (see also Monday’s announcement on the Federal Court’s own website).

For those of us practicing Canadian intellectual property law, Roger Hughes’s texts, […]

Today, Carswell and Canada Law Book Inc. announced a joint agreement to collaborate in the development of an online research destination for us Canadian intellectual property practitioners. It is called IP Source and is part of the WestlaweCARSWELL Source series.

We currently subscribe to Law Source and I had found the Canadian content to be […]

I was away on holidays for a few days and on catching up on my emails, I noticed that the Canadian Bar Association’s National Magazine published their article entitled Blogging the Spotlight.

The article discusses how lawyers who blog are transforming the delivery of news and how they have the potential to reshape communication with clients […]

Raymond Blijd, on his From Knowledge to Wisdom blog, has an interesting post on the prevalent pay-per-copy business model of copyright licensing and how this model will likely have to change in light of pressures by the increasing easy of file sharing.

He suggests that changing our laws to include additional levying of media, […]

Via Rob Hyndman, IP Frontline recently featured a good article about How To Protect Intellectual Property When Terminating Employees by Caroline Horton Rockafellow.

The article notes that when a company is forced to terminate employees, the consequences are painful, not only for the affected employees, but also to the downsizing company. Significant issues must be […]

David Fewer, staff counsel for CIPPIC, has an interesting article in today’s National Post entitled “Piracy talk is just spin”.

It talks about the music file-sharing case currently before the Federal Court of Appeal (see my previous post) and the apparent media spin that the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) is putting on it. Fewer […]

Yesterday Bill C-29, An Act to Amend the Patent Act, received Royal Assent. It will likely come into force sometime in the spring of 2006.

When it does, it will allow for the retroactive correction of the small entity fee problems caused by the Dutch Industries case which ruled that entity size is determined once: […]

The Globe and Mail reported yesterday that the United States has puts Canada on a Piracy Watch List. Apparently we’re a haven for pirated and counterfeit goods.

The Bush administration has also ordered a special review of Canadian enforcement measures as part of its annual report on intellectual property rights. The report urges […]