Intellectual Property
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January 06, 2025
Invalidating a design by premature disclosure on social media
There is a one-year grace period for filing an industrial design. If the design has been disclosed more than one year before the priority date of the application the registration of the design will be potentially invalid. Several decisions in the European Union have found designs invalid based on prior disclosure in social media posts.
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January 06, 2025
Co-chair of Canadian intellectual property and technology group appointed
DLA Piper (Canada) LLP announced that David Spratley has been named the co-chair of the firm’s Canadian intellectual property and technology group.
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January 02, 2025
Cassels welcomes 10 new partners in 2025
The following lawyers have been admitted into the Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP partnership for 2025:
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December 24, 2024
Doing good, doing well and promoting ourselves | Emanuela Truffo
Recently, a friend of mine shared footage of a Christmas parade aimed at the sole purpose of letting people have fun. There is no further purpose but to share one’s time with disadvantaged people. It is Christmas, after all.
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December 17, 2024
Ontario Court of Appeal dismisses class action after 21-year delay
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld the dismissal of a 21-year old certified class proceeding finding that the delay in the action was inordinate and inexcusable.
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December 17, 2024
Vavilov at five | Sara Blake
Five years ago, on Dec. 19, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada, in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65, re-set the standard of review for questions of statutory interpretation. In that case, and two others decided in the same week, the court demonstrated how the new standard of review is to be applied.
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December 16, 2024
Federal fiscal update after Freeland’s shock departure features tax, legal changes of note to bar
Boosting the number of judges in Ontario’s Unified Family Court and Court of Appeal, making “bail and sentencing laws stricter,” and new civil remedies — and criminal penalties of up to $1 million for corporations — under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, were among the new measures proposed in the 2024 fall fiscal update by the minority Liberal government after Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stunned Ottawa by resigning from the Cabinet a few hours earlier.
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December 13, 2024
Feds to remove 30% Canadian pension fund investment cap, boost R&D in Fall Economic Statement
In a bid to boost domestic investment by Canadian pension funds, the federal government is set to remove a cap that restricts pension funds from owning more than 30 per cent of the voting shares of a Canadian entity, according to a release.
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December 12, 2024
Trademark registrar announces pilot project in January to address issue of ‘deadwood’ marks
Beginning in January, Canada’s registrar of trademarks will start proactively issuing a limited number of section 45 notices in a bid to tackle the growing problem of deadwood trademarks in the Canadian marketplace.
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December 12, 2024
New associate joins Dipchand
A recent news release from Dipchand LLP announced the addition of Alexander Watts as an associate in the firm’s intellectual property (IP) practice.