Intellectual Property
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March 13, 2024
Canada expresses trade concerns after new ‘Product of USA’ labelling rule unveiled
Canada is sounding an alarm over a U.S. move to adopt stricter standards for meat, poultry and egg products labeled "Product of USA."
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March 13, 2024
B.C. Court of Appeal affirms B.C. jurisdiction in JUUL e-cigarette class action
The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a finding that British Columbia has jurisdiction over Altria Group, Inc., the parent company of Phillip Morris USA, in a proposed class action concerning allegations that the company participated in a conspiracy to falsely market JUUL e-cigarettes to young people as safe.
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March 14, 2024
Section 45 proceedings, change in ownership of mark and special circumstances
The impact of the special circumstances exception in s. 45 proceedings where there has been a change in the ownership of the mark has again been the subject of proceedings in the Federal Court (Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne v. Coors Brewing Company 2024 FC 169).
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March 11, 2024
Copyrighting golf course design
A push to amend U.S. law to extend copyright protection to golf courses raises interesting issues about the types of works that can be protected by copyright.
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March 05, 2024
Federal lawyers ratify new collective agreement gains that achieve ‘comparable’ pay to Ontario Crowns
Members of the union representing more than 3,300 federal government lawyers and Crowns voted overwhelmingly to ratify a “hard won” new collective agreement, featuring pay increases of 12.5 per cent (13.14 per cent compounded) over four years — and making the pay rates for federal Crowns “comparable” to those of their Ontario counterparts, who are the highest paid public-sector lawyers in Canada, says the Association of Justice Counsel (AJC).
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March 04, 2024
Abuse of process by relitigation
The Federal Court of Appeal has recently considered the doctrine of abuse of process in relation to a claim for patent infringement. The court’s conclusions are not limited to patent infringement and apply more broadly (Janssen Inc. v. Apotex Inc., [2023] F.C.J. No. 2369).
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March 01, 2024
Federal Court upholds trademark registration despite lack of usage evidence
The Federal Court has affirmed a decision upholding the registration of certain trademarks despite the absence of evidence regarding the use of the relevant marks from the new owner.
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March 01, 2024
Define ‘tough judge’ | Norman Douglas
There are many countries in the world with tough judges. Perhaps these countries have a lower crime rate — we don’t know, because what goes on in their criminal courts is kept secret.
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February 28, 2024
Canada endorses multinational policy framework for development of 6G wireless networks
Canada has joined nine other nations in endorsing a policy framework for 6G, the next generation of wireless technologies. Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne said in a Feb. 26 news release that the shared principles for the research and development of 6G wireless communication systems will support open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, resilient and secure connectivity.
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February 28, 2024
Pre-merger notification threshold to stay the same at $93 million for 2024, says Competition Bureau
The $93-million transaction-value threshold for requiring businesses to give Ottawa advance notice of a proposed merger will stay the same in 2024, the federal Competition Bureau says.