A federal judge in the United States has dismissed a lawsuit against Aritzia that accused the retailer of copying an artist’s work with hot pink, squiggle-shaped sculptures that appeared in stores in early 2023. Here is the link to the initial lawsuit made by Richard X Zawitz, the owner of Tangle Creations posted by pr1ncess.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday. I couldn’t resist posting this link and photo. https://vancouversun.com/business/local-business/arcteryx-wins-court-injunction-against-adidas-terrex-kitsilano-store-in-trademark-spat With a result that should surprise no one, Arc’teryx has received an injunction against Adidas Terrex. Checkout the photo caption! Confusion indeed! Enjoy the last few days of holidays all!  

It should come as no surprise that rights holders of video games often go after those who modify their games or release fangames. However, I rarely see these lawsuits go beyond a DMCA notice and the other party following said notice. Most of the time, the potentially infringing party complies with the DMCA, and you […]

  I felt like posting this saga once enough time passed when an anime restoration and archiving company closed down and had to figure out what to do with thousands of anime film masters or destroy them. Few companies are capable of storing film masters, and Tokyo Lab was one such company. Film Masters are […]

Hi all, Here’s another PechaKucha presentation! This one’s on some practical ways to protect IP through personal IP stories, including my own. (I did another PechaKucha on NILs in the context of US college sports so if you’re curious about that, its a few posts back.) To access the presentation via Google Slides, click the […]

In a plot twist more dramatic than an iPhone launch, Apple is hitting the pause button on sales for its Series 9 and Ultra 2 Apple Watches in the U.S.   Why? Glad you asked. Well, it turns out the cool blood oxygen sensor, the heartbeat of Apple’s smartwatches, has caused a not-so-healthy legal commotion. […]

Fanfiction refers to creative fiction produced by fans of a particular original work that derives from its characters, plot, settings, or themes. Fanworks are characterized by their transformative nature as creative reinterpretations and expansions upon the original source material. They are non-commercial in nature, crafted out of a genuine love for the source content and […]

You have heard about authors suing fanfiction writers, you have heard about authors suing ChatGPT, but have you ever heard of fanfiction writers suing authors?   In a rather bizarre case, Demetrious Polychron, an avid fan of the Lord of the Rings franchise, decided to sue the Tolkien Estate and Amazon for alleged copyright infringement […]

Posting this for any fans of Kitchen Nightmares who want to see an example of how trademarking can go wrong. Apparently in Baltimore the endearing term ‘Hon’ (short for honey) is very popular. This led one local café owner to trademark the name of her café, “Café Hon”. She also threatened to sue other people […]

When we’ve fallen in love with a story, a character, or a fantasy land, there is a tendency to want to dive deeper into this fictional universe. The original creative minds may spur out sequels and spinoffs in response to fan demand – or they may not. Either way, it is almost guaranteed that the […]

As the exam season draws to a close, I, like many of you, will be spending my time away from school playing video games. One of my favourite video games is Earthbound. This is a Japanese role-playing game, or JRPG, which has the protagonist Ness attempt to save the world from aliens. The game was […]

As a lifelong musical theatre fan, my current obsession is Mozart, the Rock Opera (the “Musical”).[1] I recently came across some incredible Fanart that got me pondering all the copyright issues between fanart and the original Musical. The Musical is French, with no official adaptions to other languages. Yet, some very talented Chinese fans have […]

If you were planning to give a loved one an Apple Watch for Christmas this year, I hope that you are not a last-minute shopper, because the newest versions of the beloved smart watch are being pulled from the Apple website on December 21st and from store shelves on December 24th. The reason? A patent […]

Hi IP friends, in an attempt to wind down from the IP exam, I made myself a nice latte with some latte art and fired up my favorite game, ‘League of Legends’ but what do I see? IP issues again! On December 18th, a decision was made in California federal court for a Singapore-based video […]

  “The rise of the machines is here, but they do not come as conquerors, they come as creators.”[1]  This concept of creating is fundamental to Canadian copyright law.  Indeed, copyright’s raison d’etre has been described as “encouraging the dissemination of works…and obtaining a just reward for the creator.”[2]  Why then, have these machines divided […]