Communications Law
Gaming Fair Dealing?: Fan Merchandise Policies in the Video Game Industry
For my final project I wanted to explore the legal question of fan-made merchandise of popular intellectual properties. As someone who is an avid supporter of small businesses (read: has bought a truly excessive amount of stickers), I’ve always wondered about the legality of some of the products sold. Aside from original art, many small […]
Makeup Dupes: Imitation as the Cheapest Form of Flattery
For my project, I chose to look into the implications and issues surrounding intellectual property protection regarding makeup dupes. With the prices of luxury goods remaining high despite growing economic pressures, dupes are becoming increasingly popular. This trend falls in line with the so-called “lipstick index” which suggests cosmetics sales remain steady, or even rise, […]
Journey to Mount Fire (…or is it Mount Doom?): Passing-Off & Fandom Creations
For my final project, I wanted to take a deeper look at passing-off implications for fandom creations. Specifically, the implications for a new app that is based almost exclusively upon the journey that Frodo Baggins took in the Lord of the Rings (“LOTR”) series. On December 28, 2023 I stepped out my virtual hill house in […]
George R.R Martin Refuses to Bend The Knee: The Ongoing Copy Infringement Battle Between Authors and AI
My final project delves into the world of copyright infringement, or more specifically, whether an author’s fictional world, universe or setting can be subject to copyright infringement. It will also assess whether Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Open AI can use literary works and distinctive features within these works, such as fictional […]
Official Marks and Copyright: Freeing Anne of Green Gables
For my final project, I decided to take a look at the official trademark regime of Anne of Green Gables and ended up becoming very angry about it. Enjoy! If you grew up as a child in Canada in the last century, it was hard to avoid Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series […]
Chili(e) crunch: inherently distinctive or merely descriptive?
David Chang’s food empire Momofuku has been in the news this week for sending cease and desist letters to other food brands, some of which are small businesses, who have used the term “chile crunch” or “chili crunch” on their products. The letters state that Momofuku is the “owner of all trademark rights” to both […]
Intellectual Property in the Fitness Industry
Hi everyone, Asia and I decided to do our project on intellectual property in the fitness industry. We have made a video discussing this topic and at the end of the video we have some questions for a class discussion! Thank you! Asia Clarke and Kierra Leonard https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iix452XQxem5uTUkXe9hzjYYAKRAzVux/view?usp=sharing IP Project Slides
Prescription drug patents and generic drugs in Canada
Prescription drug patents are a contentious issue in Canada and many other countries. On one hand, strong intellectual property protections for drug creators helps incentivize development of novel remedies and ensures that companies are adequately compensated for the costs and risk they assume in the research and development process. The lucrative revenue earned by drug […]
Beyond Functionality: Colgate’s Victory in Trademark Protection for Aesthetic Design
At some point, some of us have wondered how Colgate manages to keep the stripes in its toothpaste from mixing when squeezed out of the tube. This curiosity sparked a trend on the social media platform TikTok, where users tried to blend the distinct stripes of color within the toothpaste tube by applying pressure to the […]
IP in Music: An Interview with Hotae Alexander Jang
Hi Everyone! For my project, I conducted an informal interview with my brother, Alex, who works in the music industry. You should be able to access the video via this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JZctdvFxcG3CG-715DlUU8GraOpl1PH_/view?usp=sharing But as per my brother’s request, I will only have the link up till the end of April. If you’re having difficulties with […]