Earlier this year, the Honourable J. Douglas Cunningham, Q.C., was named the special advisor on Federal Court Prothonotaries’ Compensation to complete a report by the end of May 2013. He is inviting comments from the public until April 19, 2013 and public hearings are scheduled for May 1 and 2, 2013.
India Supreme Court says Gleevec not inventive
India’s highest court has ruled that the beta crystalline form of Imatinib Mesylate (Gleevec/Glivec) is not inventive because of features found in the known alpha crystalline form. The judgment includes a discussion of changes to patent legislation, the Indian pharmaceutical industry and compliance with TRIPs.
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isoHunt found to infringe
The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld summary judgment against isoHunt, a Canada based BitTorrent search engine, for contributory copyright infringement.
First Sale Doctrine
A majority of the United States Supreme Court upheld the application of the first sale doctrine to internationally published material in a decision released today, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
AIA Implementation
This weekend the ‘first-to-file’ rules come into force in the United States as part of the America Invents Act implementation. Among other things, the new rules affect the significance of the date of invention and the scope of prior art citable against applications.
Do you have a “computer problem”?
CIPO has issued practice guidance to patent examiners on patentable subject matter (PN2013-02) and the examination of computer-implemented inventions (PN2013-03) following the November 2011 decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Amazon.com Inc. 2011 FCA 328.
Government introduces anti-counterfeiting legislation
Bill C-56, the Combating Counterfeit Products Act, was introduced today with amendments to the Copyright Act and Trade-marks Act, to among other things, allow the Canada Border Services Agency to detain suspected shipments and act on requests from rights holders. It will also “expand the scope of what can be registered as a trade-mark, allow the Registrar of Trade-marks to correct errors that appear in the trade-mark register, and streamline and modernize the trade-mark application and opposition process.”
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E-Filing in the Federal Court
The Federal Court has issued a revised Notice to the Profession on electronic service and filing of documents. Starting on March 1, 2013, the Federal Court will be using its own system for electronic filing, replacing the LexisNexis system used since 2009.
Amendments to Federal Courts Rules
Amendments have been made to the Federal Courts Rules relating to scheduling of general sittings, format of documents, notices of appearances in applications, increasing minimum lead time to file motion materials, and other “miscellaneous” amendments.
Judicial Appointments
In an announcement today, the Honourable Justice David Near was elevated from the Federal Court to the Federal Court of Appeal and the Honourable Justice Peter Annis of the Ontario Superior Court was appointed to the Federal Court. Judicial appointments were also made today in Ontario, Newfoundland & Labrador, Alberta and Quebec.