Last week the government authorized the Department of Foreign Affairs to take the actions necessary to bring into force for Canada, the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and the World Intellectual Property Organization Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The coming into force of the treaties will affect the entry into force of several sections of the Copyright Modernization Act from 2012.
All posts by Alan Macek
Equitable Remuneration
A proposed “Statement” limiting the scope of equitable remuneration under s.19 of the Copyright Act for countries that do not offer a reciprocal right, was published in the Canada Gazette. This will update a similar statement from 1999 for changes to domestic laws and countries which have acceded to the Rome Convention.
Prothonotaries
The Federal Government has responded to the recommendations of the special advisor on Prothonotary compensation, including with a proposal to have Prothonotary compensation managed under the Judges Act.
Experimental Testing
The Federal Court has published a Notice to the Profession on experimental testing in patent infringement and validity actions. It requires that notice be provided at least two months prior to the service of expert reports and unless notice is provided, the party shall not lead evidence at trial as to the experiments except with leave of the Court.
Motion Practice in Ontario Court
The Ontario Court issued practice notices regarding motion practice last fall that were recently published online. The first requires, among other things, the moving party to file a Notice of Motion within 10 days after the motion date is requisitioned. The second is an announcement that additional resources are being allocated to long motions.
Justice Scott to FCA
Justice André F.J. Scott has been elevated to the Federal Court of Appeal on Friday to replace Justice Noël. He has been a judge of the Federal Court since 2010. Appointments were also made to the Ontario and Newfoundland courts.
IP Treaties
The government has tabled five intellectual property treaties in the House of Commons:
- Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (“Madrid Protocol”),
- Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (“Singapore”),
- Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (“Nice”),
- Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (“Hague”), and
- the Patent Law Treaty.
Burden of Proof
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court held that the patentee has the burden of proving infringement when a licensee seeks declaratory judgment, in Medtronic v. Mirowski (PDF), reversing the lower court.
Biologics
In a decision issued today, Justice Hughes considered the breadth of the claims in the first [see update below] biologic patent infringement trial decision of the Federal Court. The patent at issue was found valid and infringed.
Canadian Trademark Firms in 2013
About 50,400 trademark applications were filed in Canada in 2013. Of these, about 20% were filed in-house or without an agent (about the same as in the last couple of years). Gowlings, Smart & Biggar and Bereskin & Parr were the firms that filed the most trademark applications. Check out my list of the 50 firms/agents that filed the most applications in 2013. Continue reading Canadian Trademark Firms in 2013