January 2010
11 posts
Off-topic: Supremes declare that Khadr deprived of...
As stated in the Supreme Court of Canada’s headnote (from a unanimous court with reasons for judgment written by Chief Justice McLachlin, released this morning):
The appeal from the judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal, Number A-208-09, 2009 FCA 246, dated August 14, 2009, heard on November 13, 2009, is allowed in part with costs to the respondent. The application for judicial review...
A myriad of gene patents
Joe Mullin profiles the Myriad patent story. The company’s seven patents have been challenged in the US federal district court by the ACLU on behalf of a number of scientific organizations and breast cancer patients, among others.
The patents protect isolated portions of the human genome, particularly covering tests that diagnose breast and ovarian cancer.
The case was filed in May 2009...
Legal privilege extends to US patent attorneys
Gilbert’s lawyer Alex Stack discusses the Datatreasury v. RBC decision (as yet unreported). He writes,
In DataTreasury, Claudio Ballard, the inventor of the patent at issue and a resident of the United States, engaged the American law firm of Pennie & Edmonds LLP to draft, file and prosecute his patent application. The professionals who dealt with the inventor were patent attorneys:...
IPIC analyzes Singapore Treaty - Report →
Singapore and Madrid - major changes to Canadian...
There was a short posting on the CIPO news section on December 15, 2009. In non-descript language, the news item referred to a consultation on a proposal to “more closely align [the trade-marks legislation] with modern business practices and international standards”.
The major proposed changes include:
implementation of the Singapore Treaty, which will require new forms of...
CBA Quarterly case summmaries
The Canadian Bar Association, IP Section, has released a new set of case summaries (for July - September 2009).
Link to previous quarter’s cases.
The jury in the i4i v. Microsoft case speaks. →
CIPO practice notice - extra 6 months only in TM...
A CIPO news item refers to the coming into effect on March 11, 2010 of a new practice notice curtailing the Office’s practice of granting multiple extensions of time to respond to an Office Action Report during trade-mark examination. A similar practice notice will also apply to industrial designs.
As stated in the practice notice:
Effective immediately, the Office will generally grant...
Patent lawsuit - an admission of commercial...
The Economist on Nokia’s patent strategy (link):
When the company makes headlines these days, it is thanks to the patent lawsuits it has filed against Apple, which many have interpreted—perhaps unfairly—as an admission of commercial defeat.
A patent flame war on ipwatchdog.com. →
Article on the Federal Court rule change re hot... →