The second year of the Intellectual Property Law & Technology Intensive concluded in December, 2012. This newest addition to the variety of clinical education programs offered by Osgoode Hall Law School provides enthusiastic students a first-hand experience into the real world of IP law, policy, and practice.

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Posted in IP, IP Intensive
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On September 24, 2012, the Copyright Board of Canada (the “Board”) began a two week public hearing for two proposed Re:Sound tariffs: Tariff 8.A (Simulcasting and Webcasting) and Tariff 8.B (Semi-Interactive Webcasting). This hearing has been highly anticipated since Pandora, a popular American webcaster and an objector participating in the hearing, exited the Canadian market in 2007 citing excessive performance royalties as the main reason for its departure.

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Posted in Blogs, Canada, Copyright, Feature Post, Internet, IP, IP Course Topic, IP Intensive, Music Industry, Music Industry
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Entertainment Software Association of Canada v SOCAN was one of two 5-4 split decisions of the copyright pentalogy decisions released on July 12. Online media and software producers and distributors won a major victory. The Supreme Court ruled that the “communication to the public by telecommunication” right does not apply to downloads of a musical work. Only the reproduction right will apply. The case was largely confined to an interpretation of the word “communication” within the Copyright Act (Act). The split decision is explained not by vast divergence in legal analysis, but by the emergence of two rival camps over the proper approach to the interpretation of the Act. This conflict can be expected to become all the more important since Bill C-11, which introduces numerous changes to the Act, received Royal Assent merely three weeks ago.

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Posted in Canada, Cloud Services, Copyright, copyright reform, Digital Downloads, Digital Locks, Feature Post, Gaming, Internet, IP, IP Reform, Music Industry, Music Industry, Supreme Court of Canada, Technology, Telecommunications
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A team of Hamilton scientists at the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute (SCC-RI) of McMaster University have made a breakthrough discovery (reported by CTV here) with the potential to significantly impact future cancer treatment, and provide new hope for people living with cancer including tens of thousands of Canadians. Published in last Thursday’s edition of CELL, the researchers have discovered that an old drug, thioridazine, previously prescribed for cases of psychosis and schizophrenia may have an extraordinary new use – “killing” elusive cancer stem cells believed to be responsible for tumour growth, while leaving ordinary human stem cells unharmed.

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Posted in Access to Medicines, Announcements, Canada, Feature Post, Innovation, IP, Patents, Pharmaceutical Drugs
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