August 2009
14 posts
Brick Brewing Lime
According to a report in the Globe, Budweiser is suing independent Brick Brewing for trade-mark infringement. The product at issue is Brick’s Red Baron Lime. Budweiser is asserting that there will be confusion in the marketplace which will damage its Bud Light Lime brand.
Andrea Rush of Heenan Blaikie represents Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) and Andrew McIntosh of Belmore McIntosh Neidrauer is...
“The French word for Patent is Brevet, from medieval Latin for brief.”
– http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/g/brevet.htm
Changes to the Canadian patent exam
According to a proposed rule change, as described in this news release, the patent exam will undergo some changes. The changes to the exam, the licensing process for patent agents, include that:
the annual exam will be held at anytime with 2 weeks notice, instead of in April; and
candidates will need to have 24 months of experience, instead of 12 months, to qualify for a sitting of the exam.
...
First ever reported Canadian patent trial
Adams v. Peel (1850), 1 L.C.R. 130 (link) was heard in Montreal, in the Superior Court of Lower Canada. The judgment was released almost 160 years ago, in 1850.
The case involved a British patent for a “Revolving Receiver Brick” machine used to make bricks. The amount of damages claimed was 250 pounds.
The rationes of the case were:
Letters Patent for Inventions granted...
Merck's singulair patent valid in the US
A CNN report has word that a US federal court trial judge has upheld the validity of Merck’s singulair patent. The Israeli firm Teva had sought to bring a generic version to market. Merck was quite confident:
In July, Chief Executive Richard Clark said in an interview the company had no contingency plan in the event of a loss, saying “if you feel you have a very strong position, you...
Link: Microsoft word case - Court's full opinion →
Toronto-based company wins permanent injunction...
According to numerous sources on Techmeme, including the Microsoft Blog, Toronto-based i4i Inc. has won a permanent injunction (link) in a patent infringement trial. In 60 days, the injunction will prevent Microsoft from selling Word, unless presumably, modifications to the software are made, or a settlement is reached. There is also a $290M damages award! (link to judgment)
Obama on generic drugs
US President Obama’s thoughts on generic drugs, as reported by The Economist in a piece on big changes in the pharma industry: “If there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half the price for the thing that’s going to make you well?”
IP development co. interview in the Globe & Mail
Q&A with CEO of Mosaid Technologies, a struggling chip company reborn as an “IP Development” company. With 1700 patents to sell, license or enforce in the Courts, Mosaid and companies like it are giving new incentives to file patents. The model works because these companies do not have operations at risk of infringing the patents of others.
Link: A refreshing (US) approach to maintenance... →
3 tags
Small business and patents, trademarks
Great New York Times article dispels a number of myths about trademarks and patents including the classic myth: it’s not worth the time or effort to secure patent or trademark rights.
“Welcome to ipatents.ca - a new micro-blog covering developments in patents and...”
– The author