The government released its Budget 2024 that includes some IP related provisions:
support for amendments to the Copyright Act to “help achieve interoperability between devices and equipment” and “to allow the circumvention of digital locks to diagnose, maintain, or repair a product”;
for the Federal Court, funds to “enhance its capacity to deliver translated decisions” by the federal courts; and consultations on “repealing the residency requirement” for Federal Court judges allow for wider and more diverse pool of applicants;
support for various innovation programs including $600m over four years for enhancements to the SR&ED program; money for the Innovation Asset Collective; and allowing “businesses to
immediately write off the full cost of investments in patents”.
The Rules Amending the Patent Rules that amend s3 and add s139.1 to the Patent Rules to allow the Commissioner to waive payments of fee differences in certain circumstances (see earlier post) have been published in the Canada Gazette, Part II.
As mentioned last week, CIPO waived underpayments on $50 small entity fees which should have been increased under the Service Fee Act. Corresponding Rules Amending the Patent Rules amend s3 and add s139.1 to allow the Commissioner to waive payments of fee differences in certain circumstances, are now available.
The Federal Courts Rules Committee announced a “global review” of the Rules and invited comments on several identified proposals, as well as any other proposals for changes to the Rules by July 2nd. Some of the proposals include updates on electronic service and filing, incorporating elements from the consolidated practice notices, and expand roles of associate judges.
CIPO has issued a practice notice waiving the requirement to pay difference between the amounts paid for certain $50 small entity maintenance fees up to today and the amount actually required as increased by the Service Fee Act because of incorrect information posted by CIPO. Accompanying amendments to the Patent Rules that came into force earlier this week address situations where fees are paid incorrectly as a result of erroneous information provided by the Commissioner of Patents.
The government has introduced Bill C-63, the “Online Harms Act” which would among other things establish a Digital Safety Commission and imposes obligations on operators of social media services to make content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor and intimate content communicated without consent inaccessible to persons in Canada in certain circumstances.
Julie L. Blackhawk, General Counsel at the Department of Justice Canada in Ottawa, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. Angus G. Grant, Assistant Deputy Chairperson at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in Toronto, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. Continue reading Appointments→
Allyson Whyte Nowak, Senior Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP in Toronto was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. The Honourable Elizabeth Walker and The Honourable Vanessa Rochester, judges of the Federal Court, were appointed judges of the Federal Court of Appeal. Appointments were also made today in Ontario. Continue reading Appointments→