Posts

The Importance of Trademark and Passing Off

Trademark and Passing Off within Amer Sports Canada Inc. v Adidas Canada Limited On January 2, 2024, the British Columbia Supreme Court granted an interlocutory injunction for the plaintiff preventing the defendant from using a specific name on their retail store prior to the trial proceeding.  The pending trial is between two corporations arguing trademark […]
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on April 26, 2024 @12:38 pm.

Formula One: Pumping the Brakes on Patents, Crashing in Trademarks

As an avid motorsport fan, it seemed fitting to do an examination of the trademark and patent law that subsists within the racing sphere. In any one category, there is enough information to fill a full course; thus, I’ve focused on some of the most recent events and developments, particularly within Formula One.   PATENTS […]

R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface – Copyright implications within the storyline

A few months ago, I read the book Yellowface by R. F. Kuang. The book is well written, and acts to comment on many issues including diversity and racism, but the main character is painfully unlikeable. In the novel, the main character, Juniper, is an aspiring but average novelist. She is present when her friend, […]

Cactus Club Confusion

I was flying on Harbour Air the other day, and as we made our way over North Vancouver, I looked down to see a restaurant area with yellow umbrellas in the patio area. My first thought at the time was: is that a Cactus Club? The distinct yellow umbrellas in what appeared to be a […]

Copyright, Patent & Trademark Law in Technical Outerwear

Copyright, Patent & Trademark Law in Technical Outerwear I was fascinated with the in-class discussion regarding the lack of copyright in clothing designs that was undertaken in February. As an avid climber and skier, an idea that immediately stood out to me was to examine the plethora of patents that might serve to protect proprietary […]

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