Reshika Dhir is a J.D. candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and is taking the Patent Law course.

In Canada, a correctly filed patent application that may result in a patent is only half the battle won. The minimum 20 years protection is only guaranteed if the applicants, either themselves or through their authorized correspondents in law, follow through and make efforts to secure their innovation. One such continuous obligation is the payment of maintenance fees.

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Posted in Patents
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In response to the complaint against Bell Sympatico (Bell) by the Canadian Internet policy and Public Interest Clinic, based at the University of Ottawa, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner produced a report of findings dated August 13, 2009. The complaint launched under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) alleged 1) that the Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology used by Bell during Internet transmission collects customers’ personal information without their consent; 2) this practice collects more personal information than is necessary to ensure quality of service and network integrity; and 3) Bell has failed to adequately inform its customers of its policies and practices with respect to personal information collection during Internet transmissions.

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Posted in General, Internet, Privacy
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The recent announcement of Yahoo and Microsoft’s partnership may mean more choice and transparency for consumers, advertisers and publishers. It certainly means more competition in the world of online search and advertisements. Carol Bartz of Yahoo and Steven A. Ballmer of Microsoft finally put pen to paper on Wednesday, July 29, 2009, to announce this partnership, and to make a promise of more relevant and useful search results. Currently, Google tops the list of most preferred search engines.

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Posted in Innovation, Internet, Privacy
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European Union Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding is planning to overhaul Internet downloading policies in order to facilitate simple, consumer friendly, and legal access to music and films online. Her response to a recent survey, showing 60% of people between ages 16-24 as downloaders of illegal audiovisual content, is that “internet piracy appears to become more and more sexy, in particular for the digital natives.” While this may or may not be true, she has rightly identified that the current business models and legal solutions in place are a “vote of no-confidence” and that there is a need to overhaul internet downloading policies.  

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Posted in Copyright, Infringement, Internet, Internet Sharing
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