Mandy Aylen, a partner at BLG, has been appointed a prothonotary of the Federal Court in Ottawa. The appointment was effective June 16th. Continue reading Prothonotary Appointment
All posts by Alan Macek
US Decisions
Over the past week, there have been several interesting decisions relating to IP issued in the US. In Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the rule for cost shifting in copyright litigation. In Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee, the U.S. Supreme Court approved of the USPTO applying ‘broadest reasonable construction’ during IPR proceedings and that the initiation of an IPR was non-reviewable. Earlier today, in Immersion Corp. v. HTC Corp., the CAFC permitted continuation application to be filed on the same day as the grant date of the parent.
Copyright Extension
A private members bill has been introduced that would, if enacted, extend copyright to 70 years. Bill C-299, An Act to amend the Copyright Act (term of copyright), was introduced on Friday by Conservative Peter Van Loan.
Judicial Appointments
Judges were appointed today to the courts in Alberta, Ontario, BC and Quebec and to the Federal Court of Appeal. Justice Judith M. Woods, formerly a judge of the Tax Court was appointed to the Federal Court of Appeal.
Enhanced Damages
The United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision today in Halo Electronics Inc. v. Pulse Electronics Inc. relating to the ability of district courts to award treble damages in patent infringement proceedings, rejecting limits arising from Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit decisions.
CIPO Fees
CIPO has opened consultations on proposed fees for various steps under upcoming amended Patent and Trademark rules. These steps include fees per Nice Classifications and renewal fees for trademarks and correction, after-allowance amendments and late fees for patents. The consultation is open until July 5, 2016.
Patents and Competition
My recent column on the Canadian Competition Bureau’s new Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines, patent pooling, PAEs and standard-essential-patents as applied to tech patents, was published earlier this month.
Agents
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has announced consultations on the regulatory framework for patent and trademark agents.
Town Hall
At the Federal Court’s annual town hall held on May 12, 2016, the court provided an update and made some new announcements, including new Case Management Guidelines for NOC Applications.
Patent Volume in 2015
The number of patent applications published in 2015 or that entered national phase in Canada in 2015 was approximately the same as in 2014 at about 33,500 application. Smart & Biggar, Gowlings and BLG top the list of firms by volume of applications.