On Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu LLC that the claims to a method of distributing copyrighted media over the Internet were directed to unpatentable subject matter . The U.S. Supreme Court had previously remanded the proceeding back to the CAFC after Myriad and again after Alice when, in both previous cases, the court had found the claims patentable. Continue reading Third Round
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Gene Patents
As indicated below, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) has started litigation against the University of Utah Research Foundation, Genzyme Genetics and Yale University. The litigation seeks a declaration of non-infringement and invalidity of certain patents relating to Long QT Syndrome genes, including on the basis of non-patentable subject matter. Continue reading Gene Patents
Ontario Court Practice Changes
The Ontario Superior Court has published a practice advisory relating to motions practice in Toronto. Motion Scheduling Court will be rebranded as Civil Practice Court with additional case management as part of an initiative to address “motions culture” in Toronto. Changes come into effect on November 10, 2014.
Patent and Design Changes
As part of the government’s latest budget bill, C-43, proposed changes to the Patent Act and the Industrial Design Act have been introduced. The changes are intended to implement the Patent Law Treaty and the Geneva (1999) Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. Continue reading Patent and Design Changes
Political Copyright
There are reports of plans to amend the Copyright Act to provide an exception for political advertising. The exception would permit free use of news content by political actors without requiring rights holder authorization.
Proposed Trademark Regulations
CIPO has published proposed amendments to the Trademark Regulations to go with the amendments to the Trademarks Act (Bill C-31) made in June 2014. The proposed regulations deal with almost all aspects of trademark law including correspondence, applications, Nice classifications, the Madrid Protocol, oppositions and cancellation procedures.
Competition and Patents
The Competition Bureau has released a couple of documents on competition issues and patents, addressing among other things non-use of an IP right and potentially anti-competitive patent litigation settlement agreements.
Trade-mark Agent Exams
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has announced that the Trade-mark Agent Qualifying Examination will be held on November 25, 2014 with a deadline for applying of September 4, 2014. This is the first examination since the exemption for lawyers was removed.
US Performance Rights
A majority of the United States Supreme Court ruled in American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo, Inc. that Aereo transmits a performance to the public by sending television signals it receives over the air from individual antennas to subscribers over the internet.
Alice v CLS Bank
The United States Supreme Court affirmed the en banc CAFC decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l that the claims were directed to a patent-ineligible abstract idea.