Proposed regulations were published in the Canada Gazette relating to the patent agent and trade-mark agent examinations. The proposed changes include requiring lawyers to write the trademark agent exam to become agents and introducing more flexibility for running the patent agent exam.
Continue reading Proposed changes to Patent and Trade-mark Agent Examinations
CIPO announced today that it is extending the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) arrangements with Finland, Germany and Spain until at least September 2014.
New rules for U.S. patent prosecution came into force yesterday as part of implementation of the America Invents Act. The new rules relate to inventor oath and declarations, supplemental examination, inter parte review, post grant review and covered business method patents.
The US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit released its decision today in Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent reversing the lower court in part, concluding that a single colour can be a trademark in the fashion industry and “Louboutin’s trademark, consisting of a red, lacquered outsole on a high fashion woman’s shoe, has acquired limited ‘secondary meaning’ as a distinctive symbol that identifies the Louboutin brand.”
My article on patent prosecution after the Federal Court of Appeal’s Weatherford decision was published today on the legal blog, Slaw. Over the summer several IP contributors have been writing short articles for the blog.
In an en banc decision released today, a majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held it is “not necessary to prove that all the steps [of direct patent infringement] were committed by a single entity” when determining induced infringement of method claims.
The Supreme Court of Canada has granted leave to appeal from Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. v. Ontario (Health and Long-Term Care), 2011 ONCA 830 relating to provincial regulations on pharmacies selling ‘private label’ generic drugs.
The Ontario Superior Court has published a practice advisory entitled “Guidelines for Preparing and Delivering Electronic Documents requested by Judges”, a set of checklists, instructions and guidelines for ‘e-Delivery’ of electronic documents to judges of the Court’s Commercial List as part of a pilot project.
Earlier this month, the Ontario Superior Court issued a couple of judgments relating to foreign IP proceedings with Ontario parties. In Blizzard v. Simpson, 2012 ONSC 4312, foreign copyright damages and an injunction were enforced. In Agemian v. Pactiv LLC, 2012 ONSC 4571, an “anti-suit” injunction was rejected, allowing an Illinois action relating to a North American patent settlement to proceed.