A number of interesting announcements on World IP Day. The focus of the international focus on IP was on Powering change: Women in innovation and creativity. In Canada, the government announced a National IP Strategy having a number of components including $85.3 million over five years to help Canadian businesses, creators, entrepreneurs and innovators understand, protect and access IP. Announced for IP tools, was more efficient dispute resolution and tariff setting at the Federal Court (more judges) and Copyright Board through more funding, formation of a patent collective, improvements to IP used in standards-setting processes, and an IP-specific marketplace. Announced legislative changes include:
- establishing minimum requirements for patent demand letters;
- excluding settlement demands from the copyright Notice and Notice regime;
- Requiring ‘use’ of a trademark to enforce it within the first three years;
- affirming the patent research exemption;
- clarifying the role of standard essential patents;
- allowing continued use of IP by licensees in liquidation proceedings; and
- creating a College of Patent and Trademark Agents to regulate agents.
In Europe, the UK announced today that it had ratified the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement.
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The United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC (link), where a majority found that the USPTO’s inter partes reviews (IPRs) were constitutional. In the proceeding, the petitioner had argued that actions to revoke a patent must be tried in an Article III court before a jury, rather than through an administrative procedure.
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Implementing regulations for mandatory data breach reporting requirements, the Breach of Security Safeguards Regulations, were published in the Canada Gazette and are to come into force November 1, 2018. The regulations implement amendments to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
CIPO announced today that it has allocated patent application number 3,000,000. This is the one-millionth ‘New Act’ patent application.
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The first Certificate of Supplementary Protection has issued, providing two years of protection. Twelve applications for certificates of supplementary protection have been filed since the regulations came into force in September 2017. Continue reading Certificate of Supplementary Protection →
Last week, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology announced the statutory review of the of the Copyright Act.
Canadian Intellectual Property