Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are currently seeking feedback on the development of voluntary guidance for providing information for foods that are sold to consumers through e-commerce. While the...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has extended many (but not all) patent, trademark, and industrial design deadlines that ordinarily fall in a period beginning on March 16,...more
On April 30, 2020, Health Canada announced the extension of temporary relief measures, initially announced on March 24, 2020, for Canadian licence holders in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as some new...more
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, protective medical equipment including masks and gowns, and medical devices for use in testing and treating COVID-19 patients are in high demand. Manufacturers of these medical devices...more
Among the many matters the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted, it has become more challenging for some IP-owners to abide by the strict procedures and deadlines for protecting their intellectual property rights, including...more
Among the many matters the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted, it has become more challenging for some IP-owners to abide by the strict procedures and deadlines for protecting their intellectual property rights, including...more
3/23/2020
/ Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DPMA ,
European Patent Office ,
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP AUSTRALIA ,
Patents ,
Trademarks ,
UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) ,
USPTO ,
WIPO
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced last week it had sent warning letters to three companies advertising cannabidiol products with unproven claims that their products were able to treat or cure serious ailments...more
9/20/2019
/ Advertising ,
Canada ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Act ,
Cannabis Products ,
FDA Warning Letters ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Act ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Canada ,
Health Claims ,
Hemp ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Marketing
Two recent copyright infringement disputes involved the rare intersection of intellectual property with real property.
In the first, the Ontario Court of Appeal determined who owned copyright in land surveys deposited with...more
Equip: IP Litigation Case of the Week -
Courts in Canada are presumed to be open and accessible to the public. Although a party’s commercial interests can be protected, a court will not grant a confidentiality order if...more
Equip: IP Litigation Case of the Week -
The cost of litigation can be a non-starter for an intellectual property owner with a strong infringement case. Litigation funding enterprises can help where the cost of litigation...more
Pharma and biologics manufacturers will soon have big decisions to make regarding their pharmaceutical and biological product strategy in Canada. On September 6, 2017, the Governor General in Council, on recommendation of the...more
A single product can, in some circumstances, attract more than one form of intellectual property (IP) protection. For example, if functioning as an indicator of source, a product itself can attract trademark protection while...more
Some defendants have the mistaken belief that court deadlines are inherently flexible, and that even a default judgment can be set aside with a simple “mea culpa”. Not so. Without a reasonable explanation—and proof supporting...more
A recent decision involving an AT&T trademark demonstrates how the global reach of technology businesses can sometimes result in a blurring of markets and make documentation of trademark use in Canada difficult to retrieve...more
In Ontario cottage country, locals have been confronted with the registration of the trademark HALIBURTON, the name of the county in which they operate. The registration may threaten uses made by other businesses in the area....more
The Supreme Court of Canada recently confirmed the availability of a novel form of worldwide injunction whereby Google, a non-party to the litigation, was required to block worldwide access to websites operated by a...more
7/31/2017
/ Canada ,
Communications Decency Act ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Cross-Border ,
First Amendment ,
Google ,
Injunctions ,
Offensive Language ,
Search Engines ,
Social Networks ,
Supreme Court of Canada ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademarks
The patent litigation that propels generic and biosimilar products to market will soon change dramatically. July 15, 2017, marked the release of long-awaited proposed amendments to the Patented Medicines (Notice of...more
The fair dealing user right, as an exception to copyright infringement, has its limits. The fact that a use falls within an enumerated purpose under the Copyright Act is no guarantee of immunity from infringement. To avoid...more
The Supreme Court of Canada has issued two IP decisions in the span of three days—both of which spell victory for IP rights-holders. One case confirms the availability of a novel form of worldwide injunction where a non-party...more
7/7/2017
/ Apotex ,
AstraZeneca ,
Canada ,
Counterfeiting ,
Google ,
Interlocutory Injunctions ,
Patent Act ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patents ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Promise Doctrine ,
Supreme Court of Canada
A joke does not work if it needs to be explained. While some complaint and parody websites may constitute fair dealing, close copying of trademarks and copyrighted works, combined with mean-spirited commentary, will not fly....more
The victory in the fight between two rum competitors demonstrates that unregistered trade dress rights are alive and well in Canada, admissible survey evidence remains a useful tool for proving confusion, and a competing...more
A patent owner cannot sue in the hopes that the necessary facts to support infringement will emerge during discovery. From the outset, a plaintiff must be able to frame its rights and how those rights have been infringed....more
Delay in asserting IP rights can be detrimental to obtaining quick injunctive relief, and evidentiary gaps can make your case a non-starter. It is therefore important for a business to be prepared to advance claims against...more
In the United States, once a patentee has sold its product—whether domestically or internationally—its patent rights in that product are exhausted; the patentee can no longer use patent law to control refurbishing or resale...more
To succeed in a trademark infringement case, a plaintiff must prove a likelihood of confusion—that a casual consumer would likely be confused into thinking the source of the defendant's products or services is the same as or...more