In the past year, legislation in all areas of intellectual property was amended or is in the process of being amended: the Trade-marks Act was amended twice; anti-counterfeiting amendments were made to the Copyright Act and several sections of the Copyright Modernization Act came into force; both the Patent Act and Industrial Design Act were amended to implement the treaties; and amendments to the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act are in the final stages of parliament. I discuss these changes in an article published today.
Tag Archives: Trademarks
Border Enforcement
Sections of the Combating Counterfeit Products Act relating to a new border enforcement regime come into force January 1, 2015, as published today in the Canada Gazette.
Anti-Counterfeiting
Bill C-8, Combating Counterfeit Products Act received royal assent earlier today. The legislation is primarily directed to counterfeit goods, including border enforcement, criminal provisions and civil remedies though amendments to the Copyright Act and Trade-marks Act. The amendments were previously introduced as Bill C-56 in 2013.
Proposed Trademark Regulations
CIPO has published proposed amendments to the Trademark Regulations to go with the amendments to the Trademarks Act (Bill C-31) made in June 2014. The proposed regulations deal with almost all aspects of trademark law including correspondence, applications, Nice classifications, the Madrid Protocol, oppositions and cancellation procedures.
IP and 3D printing
3D printing raises interesting issues in all areas of intellectual property. What types of intellectual property will be used by rights holders and how will copyright, trade-marks, industrial design and patents be enforced against providers and users of 3D printers? I explore some of these issues in an article published today.
Trade-mark Agent Exams
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has announced that the Trade-mark Agent Qualifying Examination will be held on November 25, 2014 with a deadline for applying of September 4, 2014. This is the first examination since the exemption for lawyers was removed.
Trade-mark Act Amendments
Bill C-31, a budget bill that among other things, amends the Trade-marks Act passed third reading in the Senate yesterday. It is expected to receive royal assent soon, perhaps as early as this evening. The date of entry into force will be determined by an Order in Council.
[Update: Bill C-31 did receive Royal Assent this evening, June 19, 2014. See the status on the Parliament of Canada website.]
Proposed Amendments to Official Marks
A Private Members Bill, An Act to amend the Trade-marks Act (public authority), was introduced yesterday proposing changes to the Official Marks regime under the Trade-marks Act. The proposed changes include an opposition procedure and periodic renewals.
Significant Changes to Trade-marks Act introduced by Budget Bill C-31
Last week, the federal government introduced significant changes to the Trade-marks Act by tabling the omnibus budget bill, Bill C-31, the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1 on March 28, 2014. The “monster” Bill makes changes to nearly forty different pieces of legislation, and is designed to enact measures in last month’s federal budget. The trademark amendments will allow Canada to meet its international treaty obligations (including the Nice Agreement, Singapore Treaty, and the Madrid Protocol). According to the government summary, the proposed changes make the Trade-marks Act consistent with the Singapore Treaty, add authority to carry the Madrid Protocol into effect, and simplify the trademark application filing requirements.
Continue reading Significant Changes to Trade-marks Act introduced by Budget Bill C-31
IP Treaties
The government has tabled five intellectual property treaties in the House of Commons:
- Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (“Madrid Protocol”),
- Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (“Singapore”),
- Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (“Nice”),
- Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (“Hague”), and
- the Patent Law Treaty.