The government announced today that the “Notice and Notice” provisions of the Copyright Modernization Act will come into force in January 2015 without additional regulations.
Category Archives: Daily Alert
Three Federal Court Judges Appointed
Three new Federal Court judges were appointed today: Honourable Henry S. Brown (of Gowlings), Honourable Keith M. Boswell (of Stewart McKelvey) and Honourable Alan Diner (Baker & McKenzie). These judges are replacing Justice Snider, who resigned in October 2013, Justice Harrington who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of April 2014 and Justice O’Keefe, who elected to become a supernumerary judge. Judicial appointments were also made today to the Ontario, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Alberta courts, including Justice Mainville, formerly of the Federal Court of Appeal, to the Quebec Court of Appeal.
Status of the Artist
Last month, the Supreme Court granted the appeal in Canadian Artists’ Representation v. National Gallery of Canada at the hearing and today, issued its reasons. The Court held that minimum fees for the provision of artists’ copyrights for existing works are eligible for inclusion in scale agreements under the Status of the Artist Act and were not contrary to the Copyright Act.
Proposed Amendments to Official Marks
A Private Members Bill, An Act to amend the Trade-marks Act (public authority), was introduced yesterday proposing changes to the Official Marks regime under the Trade-marks Act. The proposed changes include an opposition procedure and periodic renewals.
US Supreme Court on Patents
Today, the United States Supreme Court issued two decisions on patents. In Limelight Networks v. Akamai Tech the Court held that direct infringement was required for a finding of inducing infringed. In Nautilus v. BioSig the Court considered patent claim indefiniteness.
Top Patentees in Canada 2013
BlackBerry tops the list of owners receiving the most Canadian patents during 2013. The others in the top five were Qualcomm, Schlumberger, P&G and LG Electronics. Approximately 23,800 Canadian patents were granted last year to about 9900 applicants.
Copyright Treaties
Canada has ratified the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The instruments of ratification were deposited with WIPO on May 13, 2014 and the treaties will enter into force three months later, on August 13, 2014. The entry into force of these treaties triggers the entry into force of certain provisions of the Copyright Modernization Act.
Patent Volume in 2013
The number of patent applications published in 2013 or that entered national phase in Canada in 2013 was approximately the same as in 2012 at about 34,900 application. Smart & Biggar, Gowlings and BLG top the list of firms by volume of applications.
Status of the Artist
At the hearing of Canadian Artists’ Representation/Front des artistes canadiens et al. v. National Gallery of Canada today, the Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and indicated an oral judgment would follow. The proceeding related to the interplay of the Status of the Artist Act and the Copyright Act.
Forgotten?
Earlier today, the European Court of Justice held that under European law individuals have the right to request that Google remove certain links that appear when someone searches for their name. The Court considered that Google’s activities were ‘processing of personal data” within Europe and that an internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal data which appear on web pages published by third parties.