The Federal Court of Appeal has announced a new e-filing platform and consolidated practice direction. Taking effect June 1, 2023, the direction includes the use of electronic documents, electronic service and filing, handling of confidential documents, pronouns/pronunciations, and handling of hearings,. Continue reading Federal Court of Appeal
Category Archives: Daily Alert
Appointments
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. Continue reading Appointments
US Supreme Court
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
Appointments
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. Continue reading Appointments
Federal Court
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. Continue reading Federal Court
Online Streaming
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.
Patent Term Adjustment
As part of budget bill C-47, proposed amendments to the Patent Act would address term adjustment based on delays during prosecution if the applicant applies for the additional term within three months of patent grant. Continue reading Patent Term Adjustment
CPATA
The College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents announced updated by-laws that come into force on May 1st that include fee increases (for example, from $1500 to $2700 for Class 1 dual licensees), changes to the four classes, and an Annual Licensee Report. Continue reading CPATA
CBA IP Day
I’m looking forward to catching up with friends and colleagues tomorrow at the CBA IP Day and Judges’ Dinner in Ottawa.
Old Act
Earlier this year, four “Old Act” patents were granted, the first time such patents have been granted since 2014. These recently granted patents have priority dates between 1978 and 1981 so have been in prosecution for over 40 years. Continue reading Old Act