The Federal Court has posted a notice that it is seeking applicants to fill an existing vacancy in Ottawa and create a pool of candidates for future positions in Ottawa, Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver. Continue reading Prothonotaries
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Plant Breeders’ Rights
Canada has notified WIPO that Canada has ratified the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. The treaty will enter into force on July 19, 2015 which follows the amendments earlier this year to the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act.
Appointments
Multiple appointments were made today, including to the Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal, courts of Nunavut, Québec, Manitoba, BC, Ontario and Alberta, the Tax Court and to CIPO. Continue reading Appointments
PM(NOC) Amendments
Amendments to the PM(NOC) Regulations relating to the listing of patents against combination drugs have been made. The amending regulations, substantially in the form published in May, were registered last week and will be formally published on July 1st in the Canada Gazette.
Competition
The Competition Bureau has published draft “Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines” for public comment. The guidelines will describe the Bureau’s position on issues such as patent settlements, including under the PM(NOC) Regulations, standard essential patents, and patent assertion entities.
Marrakesh Treaty
Bill C-65, entitled “An Act to amend the Copyright Act (access to copyrighted works or other subject-matter for persons with perceptual disabilities)” has been introduced to implement the Marrakesh Treaty. Continue reading Marrakesh Treaty
Judicial Appointments
The Honourable Patrick Gleeson, formerly a Canadian Forces legal advisor has been appointed to the Federal Court. Appointments were also made today to the courts in BC, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and to the Competition Tribunal and the Tax Court.
Foreign Decisions
There were a couple of decisions from the last several days that may be of interest:
- AstraZeneca AB & Anor v KRKA dd Novo Mesto & Anor [2015] EWCA Civ 484 – The Court of Appeal in the UK upheld the award of £27 million damages in favour of a generic for an interim injunction that was ultimately dissolved for esomeprazole.
- Garcia v. Google – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in an en banc decision (PDF), reversed its earlier panel decision and held that an actor in a controversial film was not entitled to a preliminary decision removing the film from YouTube on the basis that the law and facts did not clearly favour her claim to copyright and her showing of irreparable harm.
- Commil USA, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc. – The United States Supreme Court held that a defendant’s belief regarding patent invalidity is not a defence to an induced infringement claim.
Budget Bill
Bill C-59, entitled An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 21, 2015 and other measures, was introduced today to implement portions of the budget. The proposed changes include amendments to:
- Copyright Act – term of sound recording and performance rights;
- Patent Act – privilege for patent agents, force majeure, correcting errors and other changes;
- Trade-marks Act – privilege for trade-mark agents, force majeure, correcting errors;
- Industrial Designs Act – force majeure, correcting errors.
Judicial Appointments
The Honourable Richard Southcott has been appointed to the Federal Court. Previously, he was Vice President and General Counsel at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax. Judicial appointments were also made today in Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.