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World Intellectual Property Day 2012

World Intellectual Property Day 2012

Today marks the 12th annual World Intellectual Property Day. This observance day was created in 2000 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It is an opportunity to "celebrate the contribution that intellectual property makes to innovation and cultural creation." World IP Day is celebrated every year on April 26 in recognition of the day the WIPO convention […]

Of Genes, Spleens and Property

Of Genes, Spleens and Property

Imagine a world of great biotechnological promise where the hope of preventative, diagnostic and treatment medicine to illness and disease is more of a reality than ever before. Further, imagine that this world has, in hand, a map of the entire human genome with bits of DNA no longer lying in wait for discovery but […]

Copyright Reform, The Irish Way

Copyright Reform, The Irish Way

The current copyright statute in Ireland is the Copyright & Related Rights Act 2000. It was changed (a little) to bring Irish law into line with the EU Copyright Directive (2001), but not much has happened since. But following a promise in the coalition agreement after the 2011 general election, a Copyright Review Committee (chaired […]

Patenting Health: You Cannot Own the Laws of Nature

Patenting Health: You Cannot Own the Laws of Nature

On March 20, 2012, the United States Supreme Court decided Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 132 S. Ct. 1289 (U.S. 2012). The case was unanimous and emphatically reaffirmed that United States patent law does not allow ownership of "laws of nature." The context was a pair of patents owned by Prometheus which claimed […]

Disclosure Front and Centre as Pfizer Prepares to Defend Viagra in Supreme Court of Canada

Disclosure Front and Centre as Pfizer Prepares to Defend Viagra in Supreme Court of Canada

This Wednesday, April 18, Pfizer will defend the patent protecting the little blue pill that has changed the lives of men and women around the world.  The pill is of course Viagra and the assailant is Teva, a generic pharmaceutical company.  Teva applied for a Notice of Compliance in order to market a generic version […]

Two Years to Trial, Three Years Later

Two Years to Trial, Three Years Later

Three years ago, the Federal Court announced a plan to try to schedule trials within two years of the commencement of the proceeding. Since that time, many new patent cases have been commenced and some trials have been scheduled and heard. Has the court met its goals for patent infringement actions? In Canada, most patent […]

Bill C-11: Through the Lens of Social Norms

Bill C-11: Through the Lens of Social Norms

The Copyright Modernization Act (Bill C-11) has generated much discussion on its merits and deficiencies. However, one issue that commentators have not discussed in depth is the relationship between laws and social norms. Specifically, whether any amendments to copyright law in Canada will have an effect on user behaviour given the social acceptability of copyright […]