Canada’s Data Protection regime was upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal on December 9, 2010 (see Apotex Inc. v. Canada (Health), 2010 FCA ... Read more »
Avon Products, Inc. v. Farleyco Marketing Inc. – Successful Trademark Opposition
Congratulations to Susan Chao of MBM on a successful Trademark Opposition on behalf of Avon Products, Inc. The Trademarks Opposition Board r... Read more »
Improved Tools for IP Practitioners and Inventors
One of the more daunting tasks for any patent practitioner is to conduct a thorough search of the prior art. There are databases available t... Read more »
Highlights from the Amazon 1-click Decision in Canada
On October 14, 2010, Justice Phelan of the Federal Court of Canada, released his decision ("the decision") in the case of Amazon.c... Read more »
Double Patenting in Canada
Canadian jurisprudence clearly sets forth a prohibition against double patenting. Double patenting, in Canada, is simply not limited to “sam... Read more »
Canadian Patent Office Goes Green
In an effort to promote the commercialization of green technologies, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has proposed amendment... Read more »
Canadian Federal Court Decision: Business Methods are Patentable
On October 14, 2010, Justice Phelan of the Federal Court of Canada, released the anxiously awaited decision ("the decision") in th... Read more »
CIPO Releases a Revised Chapter 16 of the MOPOP Relating to Computer-implemented Inventions
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) released a revised Chapter 16 of the Manual of Patent Office Practice (MOPOP) relating to c... Read more »
WIPO’s Service for Electronic Retrieval of Prior Filed Applications
One of the topics covered in a recent Webinar hosted by the PCT E-Services Unit on September 7th and 8th 2010, was the new Priority Document... Read more »
Patentable Subject Matter and Claim Substance in Canada and the U.S.
On August 13, 2010, in the case of Ultramercial, LLC v. Hulu, LLC, California Central District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled that U.S. ... Read more »
Calculating Compensation for Government Expropriation
Under Section 19 of the Patent Act the Federal or any Provincial Government of Canada can apply for a compulsory license to any patent. Th... Read more »
Recycled Use – Utility Must be Claimed and Supported
Utility Where there is a new compound, utility can be described in the specification. For a new use for an old compound, utility must be s... Read more »
New Practice Notice from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office: Priority Claims
The Trade-marks Office released a new Practice Notice on September 2, 2010, to clarify its practice with respect to priority claims. The Pr... Read more »
Patent Impeachment
Any interested person can seek to invalidate an issued patent under S. 60 of the Canadian Patent Act . The threshold for standing is relativ... Read more »
Clarity Required
A minor claim construction issue that arose in AstraZeneca Canada Inc. v. Apotex Inc ., 2010 FC 714 highlights the need for clarity in claim... Read more »
Inventive Concept
When conducting an obviousness inquiry the framing of the inventive concept may drive the result. Canadian law post Apotex Inc. v. Sanofi-S... Read more »
Skilled in the Art(s?)
When the invention is a result of combining elements from two different fields it should be framed (from specification onwards) as an improv... Read more »
Copyright Assignments
Make sure you get your copyright assignments in writing. No assignment or grant is valid unless it is in writing signed by the owner of the ... Read more »
Mistakes? What Mistakes?
Canadian Patents which are overbroad by reason of “mistake, accident, or inadvertence” can be unilaterally disclaimed at any time by filing ... Read more »