IP Osgoode Speaks Series Video: Copyright Exceptions as Users' Rights? An Empirical Critique

IP Osgoode would like to thank everyone who attended Dr. Emily Hudson's lecture, titled “Copyright Exceptions as Users' Rights? An Empirical Critique,” on September 29, 2014 at Osgoode Hall Law School. The video of the lecture is available here. You can also read Joseph Turcotte's reflections of Professor Hudson's presentation here.

SEPs and the Swinging Pendulum

American IP scholar Mark Lemley aptly characterized the dynamic relationship between IP and competition law as a swinging pendulum, in which antitrust enforcement of IP has cycled from under-protection to over-protection since the enactment of the Sherman Act in 1890. The United States Supreme Court’s recent affirmation of antitrust scrutiny in patent litigation indicated that […]

Australian consumer protection body calls Steam's return policy a bunch of hot air

If you're a gamer, you're probably familiar with the Steam game distribution platform, estimated to account for 75 percent of all online game purchases. Online game purchases have surged in recent years, owing greatly to their convenience -- one can buy a game from home and play it nearly immediately. However, as sales have grown, […]

Grooveshark Fails to Navigate DMCA Safe Harbor

The recently announced decision of the United States District Court in Manhattan, UMG v. Escape Media Group (Grooveshark), serves to further elucidate the terms on which service providers can expect legal protection if their users are found to be uploading infringing content. More importantly, it gives us an excellent example of the differences between the US […]

The IP Hackathon at Osgoode: Designing Solutions to Make Canada's Patent System More User-Friendly

On October 23rd and 24th, inventors, law students, lawyers, patent agents, patent portfolio managers, policy analysts, Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s (CIPO) patent examiners and other stakeholders of the patent system convened at Osgoode for the IP Hackathon. Inspired by similar events at Stanford, Professor Giuseppina D’Agostino, the Founder and Director of IP Osgoode, decided to […]

Certainly Commendable but Perhaps not Practical – Canada’s Competition Bureau Releases Guidelines on Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation Settlements

On September 23, Canada’s Competition Bureau (“the Bureau”) announced  landmark guidelines regarding the consideration of pharmaceutical patent litigation settlements under Canada’s competition law framework. The Bureau’s guidelines on this issue were released as part of a white paper titled Patent Litigation Settlement Agreements: A Canadian Perspective. These settlement agreements attract concern from competition regulators due […]

IP Osgoode Speaks Series Video: Territoriality of Trademarks in a Post-National Era

IP Osgoode would like to thank everyone who attended Professor Graeme B. Dinwoodie's lecture, titled “Territoriality of Trademarks in a Post-National Era,” on September 18, 2014 at Osgoode Hall Law School. The video of the lecture is available here. You can also read Jamie Franks' reflections of Professor Dinwoodie's presentation here.  

Trade Dress: Redress for Handbag Theft (of the Non-Mugging Variety)

Knockoffs run rampant in the retail and fashion industries. For those of us that are fashion-forward but not looking to incur debilitating debt, we resign ourselves to settling for the closest lookalike. But while these products may save us some money, it is usually at the expense of designers from whose unique and original work […]

In Proving Foresight May Be Vain: Federal Court Vacates Bifurcation Order Just a Few Months After Granting It

Originating back in 2006, the litigation between Pfizer and Apotex over Pfizer’s blockbuster drug, Lipitor, has been long and arduous. With many twists and turns in these proceedings, Pfizer's most recent motion to amend its statement of defence and counterclaim led to yet another surprising result. The motion brought by Pfizer is part of the proceedings commenced by Apotex […]

The First Ever IP Hackathon Took Place at Osgoode Hall Law School

Professor Giuseppina D’Agostino, Founder and Director of the Intellectual Property Law & Technology Group (IP Osgoode) at Osgoode Hall Law School, stirred up the IP community yet again with her innovative and invigorating way of “tearing apart the patent system.”