Now, Why Didn’t I Think of That?

Further to my earlier posting “Best Buy, maybe not”, it looks like Tri-Vision has now also sued Thomson. See today’s press release on Yahoo Finance.

Again, the V-chip technology allows parents to block violent or other objectionable programming from their children’s television. The relevant Canadian patent is CA 2,179,474 and it was invented […]

Via Le petit Musée des Marques:

Apparently the same day that Steve Jobs announced Apple’s plans to adopt Intel chips in its Macintosh line of computers, the company filed a U.S. trademark application for the term MacTel in relation to computers, computer hardware, computer peripherals, computer software, integrated circuits, circuit boards, microprocessors, semiconductors.

There is no corresponding […]

Our federal government introduced its new copyright reform Bill (click here for pdf version).

Michael Geist has a good inital summary of the various changes proposed by this bill. He notes that there is simply no denying that the lobbying efforts of the copyright owners, particularly the music industry, have paid off […]

Macleans has a pretty good article today about counterfeit goods, the enforcement problems that some of the trade-mark owners are facing and that, because enforcement in Canada is considered weak, there has been an explosive increase in the sheer number of counterfeit goods for sale in our country.

In Canada, it’s normally up to the trade-mark […]

Yesterday the United States Supreme Court ruled that, under their Food and Drug Administration rules, drug companies can ignore their rival’s patents when starting research on competing medications. See the Globe and Mail article entitled “Patent no protection in research: U.S. Supreme Court”.

In Canada we do not have such a statutory or legislated […]

Via Rob Hyndman:

It is starting to look as if CRIA is mounting somewhat of a campaign against Michael Geist, perhaps even on more of a personal level - suggesting that Mr. Geist has an on-going vendetta against the record industry. See also Michael Geist’s response thereto.

I believe that both sides of the copyright debate […]

Thanks to John Welch, of the TTABlog, for the FYI on an article in the recent WIPO Magazine (link to pdf version here).

The WIPO article, “Copyright-Based Industries: Assessing their Weight” (p.24), notes that the Canadian copyright industry’s contribution to our economy in 2002 was greater than the contribution of agriculture or mining. This […]

According to a survey conducted by Robert Half Legal, the hiring activity in the intellectual property practice area is expected to increase in Canada during the next year.

Demand for lawyers and other legal professionals with patent or intellectual property experience is anticipated to intensify.

I know that we’re pretty busy here in Alberta.

Canada.com reports that the Canadian government will table a bill next week to toughen copyright laws. See also the report by CTV.

Expect lots of reports and opinions from both sides, arguing that the proposed changes are either to tough or too lax.

In an earlier post I noted that the issue of patent trolls is still mostly a U.S. phenomenon. There is now an interesting article in the Washington Post entitled Lawmakers Want ‘Patent Troll’ Crackdown.

The article discusses how the U.S. is trying to deal with this issue through a newly introduced Bill, and how drug […]

There is a good article today in the Globe & Mail about Canada’s best- and worst-managed brands.

According to a new survey, conducted by research firm Strategic Counsel, the most important attributes of a brand are its ability to deliver consistently on its customer promise and the quality of customer service. Apparently pricing was not […]

As pointed out by my wife, there was a good article by Matthew Ingram in the Globe and Mail recently on Patent Trolls.

Discussing what sorts of activities might fall within the “patent troll” definition, Mr. Ingram notes that in 1895, a U.S. lawyer named George Selden filed a patent for a “road engine” and then […]

This interesting article, published today by CNews on the recent settlement of a U.S. copyright class action case, notes that some in the U.S. are attempting to exercise jurisdiction over Canadian claimants. The U.S. plaintiffs in that case (and their lawyers) support the U.S. settlement, including as it relates to Canadian […]