This site is my collection of updates, statistics and analysis on intellectual property in Canada. I am a partner at DLA Piper (Canada) LLP practicing in the area of intellectual property (more about me). Material on this website are my own views and do not reflect the position of DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, any of its member firms around the world, or any of its clients. IPPractice.ca grew out of my hobby to gather and share interesting updates on intellectual property to friends and colleagues. Highlights include:
Recent Posts:
Dr. Gerald Heckman, a professor at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law in Winnipeg, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court of Appeal. John C. Cotter, Partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Toronto, was appointed an Associate Judge of the Federal Court. Judicial appointments were also made today to the Tax Court, Ontario courts, Alberta courts, Quebec courts and the BC courts. …Read More
The United States Supreme Court issued several decisions yesterday that may be of interest:
- Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google LLC – social media companies are not liable for terrorist attacks by hosting accounts from terrorists: “To impose aiding-and-abetting liability for passive nonfeasance, plaintiffs must make a strong showing of assistance and scienter. Plaintiffs fail to do so.”
- Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith – copyright fair use does not cover Warhol’s use of a photograph by Goldsmith to create a silkscreen portrait of Prince -> “the purpose of the Orange Prince image is substantially the same as that of Goldsmith’s original photograph. Both are portraits of Prince used in magazines to illustrate stories about Prince.”
- Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi – patent enablement -> “Amgen’s claims sweep much broader than the 26 exemplary antibodies it identifies by their amino acid sequences. Amgen has failed to enable all that it has claimed, even allowing for a reasonable degree of experimentation
Anne M. Turley, Senior General Counsel at the Department of Justice, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court today. Appointments were also made to Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, Court of King’s Bench of New Brunswick and the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories. …Read More
New Associate Judges (Federal Court) Regulations were registered and will published shortly in the Canada Gazette. With the renaming of Prothonotaries to Associate Judges and formalizing the role, these regulations set out the number of Associate Judges in the Federal Court and the role of supernumerary AJs. …Read More
Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, received royal assent yesterday. It is directed to the regulation of “online undertakings” as a class of broadcasting undertakings.