Over the past two decades, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been working on a Design Law Treaty focused on aligning examination and procedural guidelines associated with what have historically been...more
The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) published its final rule, creating a separate design patent bar where admitted design patent practitioners will practice in design patent proceedings only. (88 Fed. Reg. 78644 (Nov. 16,...more
Investing in the creation of industrial designs is critical in modern business practice, as it allows a company’s product to stand out in an increasingly competitive market dynamic. Just as important as creating distinctive...more
CIPO has recently announced that most of its official fees will increase by at least 25% in 2024. These adjustments will affect all pending applications for patents, trademarks, industrial designs and copyrights, as well as...more
The recent proliferation of useful Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) tools for tasks like text, image, music, and software code generation is all the rage. In the intellectual property sphere, one of the hottest topics...more
Graphical User Interface (GUI) refers to icons, windows, and/or menus to offer a mechanism to interact with electronic devices visually. There has been quite a bit of debate around the registrability of GUIs under industrial...more
This article provides helpful advice for companies wanting to protect their IP rights and increase their profits. Smart & Biggar IP experts detail the importance of investing in industrial design or design patents to ensure...more
Earlier this fall the Federal Court of Canada issued a rare decision concerning industrial design infringement and reaffirmed several points of law favouring holders of industrial design registrations in Canada seeking to...more
On June 8-9, 2021, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) TRIPS Council will hold their first meeting in the wake of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announcing “the Biden-Harris Administration’s support for waiving...more
Earlier today, a group of fifteen industry and trade organizations sent a letter to five members of the Biden Administration, to express their strong support for the Administration's work to leverage international mechanisms...more
For months, global patent practitioners have been expecting China to announce sweeping, significant changes to the nation’s system of intellectual property laws—and they were not disappointed. On Oct. 17, the Standing...more
On 30 June the House of Representatives voted and approved 3 decrees whereby A new Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property is enacted, Federal Copyright Law is amended; and, Federal Criminal Code is also...more
On 27 May 2020 WIPO launched new online business service, WIPO PROOF, that provides tamper-proof evidence of the existence at a point in time of any digital file, including data sets, in any format. The WIPO PROOF service...more
On December 10, 2019, Canada, the United States and Mexico signed the Protocol of Amendment to the Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States and Canada (commonly referred to as the USMCA). The...more
On July 30, 2019, Canada acceded to the Patent Law Treaty. This accession marks the near completion of a long and ambitious journey by Canada to modernize its patent, trademark and industrial design laws and to harmonize...more
At the end of June a mechanism providing for temporary protection of industrial designs was introduced into the Russian legal system. In short it requires somebody who uses an industrial design during the period of its...more
Effective Ways to Protect Your Intellectual Property: International Design Patents - The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs (the “Hague Agreement”) is an international registration...more
The Intellectual Property Committee of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was elected at a meeting on 22 November 2018, dedicated to the legal protection of intellectual property assets in the fashion...more
Canada became the 69th member of the Hague Union related to International Registration of Industrial Designs on November 5, 2018. ...more
On November 5, 2018, extensive changes to Canada’s industrial design system will come into effect. These changes are being implemented through amendments to the Industrial Design Act (Act), the Industrial Design Regulations...more
After more than a year of negotiations, Canada reached a new free-trade agreement with Mexico and the United States minutes before the midnight deadline on September 30, 2018....more
The Hague Agreement, the international registration system for industrial designs, continues to grow as Canada will become its newest member on November 5, 2018. As we reported back in January, Russia also joined the Hague...more
Canada has joined the Hague system by depositing the instrument of ratification of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement on July 16th, 2018. This agreement provides the means of protection for Canadian industrial designs...more
On June 27, 2018 the Government of Canada published the new Industrial Design Regulations in the Canada Gazette and set November 5, 2018 as the date on which amendments to the Industrial Design Act and Regulations will come...more
On March 13, 2018, amendments to the “Ley de la Propiedad Industrial” (IP Law) were published in the Official Gazette of the Federation. These reforms will enter into force on April 13, 2018....more