Communications Law
Are Your Favourite Brand Collaborations Detrimental For The Brands’ Trademarks?
When I worked in-house for a national retail company, I was exposed to the various legal considerations behind collaborations with other brands. This prompted me to delve into co-branding and the strategic use of brand identities in marketing collaborations. Cross-brand collaborations are an increasingly popular way for brands to increase their exposure and reach new […]
The “Tech Suit” Controversy of 2009: How Patents Shaped the Market for Competitive Swimwear
As a former competitive speed swimmer, I have long been interested in racing swimsuit technologies, particularly the “tech suit” controversy of 2009. I used this project as an opportunity to investigate if and how IP law shaped the tech suit controversy, and how Speedo went from a position of market supremacy in August 2008 to […]
“High Impact System”: A Revised (or new?) Artificial Intelligence and Data Act
The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) is a large part of the Canadian government’s response to the wave of AI technologies that blew up seemingly out of nowhere in recent years. Ryan Black, DLA Piper’s Partner and formerly lead Clinic Adjunct for the Centre for Business Law at Allard, posted a detailed comparison between […]
Dentons Intellectual Property Update and Year in Review 2023
Dentons recently released its summary of what it considers to be the major Canadian intellectual property (IP) decisions in 2023. Among the highlighted cases are the following: Energizer Brands LLC. v. Gillette Company, 2023 FC 804, which concerned s. 22 of the Trademarks Act and the use of a competitors’ trademark in a comparative advertising […]
Miller High Life: (Still) The Champagne of Beers
A recent decision issued by the Federal Court segues our discussion last week regarding the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne bringing an action in passing off to this week’s topic of “use” as a requirement for maintaining a trademark. The Federal Court dismissed the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne’s appeal of a decision […]
Takeda loses patent infringement claim against Apotex
Takeda’s claim that Apotex infringed a patent relating to Takeda’s heartburn drug was denied by the Federal Court of Canada on the basis that Takeda products contained two doses of dexlansoprazole, whereas Apotex products only contained one dose. https://www.dww.com/articles/federal-court-of-canada-finds-noninfringement-and-invalidity-of-takeda%E2%80%99s-patent
IP Law in China: From Imitation to Innovation
Thanks for clicking on my post, I am glad you are here! For my term project, I chose to record a presentation introducing IP law in China. Hope you enjoy! Recorded Presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f14dWeOeO1381ASNYNfXYRA2dBlJncXm/view?usp=drive_link Slides (and Bibliography): LAW 422 IP Law – Presentation Slides
TDCommons and Defensive Patent Publications
Wired recently published this article about a website Google maintains where its employees and others can post about ideas and inventions. Its primary purpose is to document ideas that might be valuable but aren’t worth spending the money on to patent. The end goal is to establish “prior art” for the ideas posted in order […]
Are Patent Trolls Really Not a Problem in Canada?
Introduction Earlier this semester, I took a two-week intensive seminar titled Comparative Intellectual Property. One of the topics we covered which I found the most interesting was patent trolls. Patent trolls are entities who do not invent or develop anything, and whose business model consists instead of buying and asserting patents against legitimate companies [1]. […]
TaylorMade v. Costco: Patent law in the world of Golf
As of February 2, 2024, Costco is now involved in their second legal dispute involving major golf companies. Back in 2017, Acushnet, the owner of Titleist, sued Costco for patent infringement and false advertising concerning Kirkland’s Signature golf balls. However, the parties resolved all claims out of court the following year. Despite this, Costco finds […]