Now, Why Didn’t I Think of That?

Anyway, enough already about the not-so-latest developments regarding the Canadian private copying exemption, the fact that MP3 players are not “audio recording medium” and that hard-drives are an uncertainty.

Another way for someone to legally copy content, when one is not the copyright owner, is to obtain authorization or permission from the copyright owner […]

Further to my previous posting, and the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision last year about MP3 players, the really interesting and somewhat uncertain legal issue is whether computer hard-drives ought to fall within the section 80(1) exemption and levy scheme. Again see my earlier musings on this topic.

The question is whether hard-drives […]

Yesterday the Canadian Supreme Court dismissed an application to hear an appeal of last year’s Federal Court of Appeal decision in Canadian Private Copying Collective v. Canadian Storage Media Alliance, regarding the private copying levy on MP3 players such as Apple’s iPods. Since then, there has been a flurry of comments, responses and […]

I’m not usually in the habit of posting job openings, but I received a very nice email from an in-house patent lawyer at Ballard Power Systems Inc. in Vancouver, B.C.

Apparently Ballard is looking to hire a Intellectual Property Specialist / Lawyer. They’re also looking for someone with 5+ years patent drafting/prosecution experience […]

BusinessEdge.ca today has an interesting article about a new book, entitled From the Mind to the Marketplace.

The book is basically a how-to guide for taking an innovation to market. It also pays particular attention to the inventor and author’s experiences as novice marketers, with emphasis on the wooing of large retailers such as Canadian […]

CTV.ca reports that Calgary store owner, Barbie Anderson Whalley, has won her trademark battle with Mattel Inc. and that she can keep the name of her store (Barbie’s Shop) and website (www.barbiesshop.com). The store sells adult clothing and offers customized items for “bad boyz and girls.”

Last year, Ms. Anderson-Whalley announced that she was giving […]

I was saddened to learn that James Doohan, best known for playing Montgomery Scott (i.e. “Scotty”) on the original Star Trek series, has died today at the age of 85. See the CBC’s report: Star Trek’s Scotty dies.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and then raised in Sarnia, Ontario, Doohan also served as […]

In my previous post I noted that there was a fair bit of media attention regarding the Harry Potter injunction.

This injunction is perhaps pushing the frontiers of Canadian copyright law, developing new common law copyrights such as “unlawful reading”. See the Globe and Mail’s article, National Post’s article and Michael Geist’s comments.

From […]

Although there hasn’t been much in terms of legal developments in Canadian intellectual property law (we’re still waiting on our Supreme Court to rule in the LEGO functional trade-mark case and for that Court to hear the BARBIE and CLIQUOT famous mark cases), Canadian IP-related issues continued to be newsworthy this past week:

Most […]

Via Rob Hyndman,

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recently published a third guide in its Intellectual Property for Business Series entitled Inventing the Future: An Introduction to Patents for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (pdf format).

The guide states that the exclusive rights provided by a patent may be crucial for innovative companies to prosper in […]

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

NOODLES THE PURPLE ELEPHANT - 1,178,173, by Jacqueline Alexander in relation to a variety of consumer products;

WHO’S YO DADDY - 1,204,552, by Lone Star Cafe Restaurants Inc. in relation to sea food sauces, t-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, aprons, bibs and spices;

THE BIG FAT ASS […]

Michael Geist’s BNA Internet Law News today reports that Google is no longer issuing e-mail addresses for Germany from the domain gmail.com because of a legal dispute over the brand name GMAIL.

Apparently German entrepreneur Daniel Giersch has been granted a temporary restraining order to prevent Google from using the designation “Gmail” in […]

Today we celebrate Canada Day. It is the anniversary of the uniting in 1867 of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as the dominion of Canada. We’re now 138 years old!

Taking a bit of an intellectual property turn, if it wasn’t for us Canadians, the world would be […]