The history of the “Havana Club” brand rum is a long one. It was originally produced and sold by the Arechabala family until 1960, when the Castro government confiscated their holdings without compensation. Since this included the Arechabala’s rights to sell their rum, the Cuban government began selling the rum themselves under the stolen “Havana […]
In light of the recent Quebec student protests (see here), and the support that the protests are gaining nationwide, one might suspect that there would be a general trend towards cheaper education in Canada. However, two recent cases suggest that while that may be the case in the U.S., the same may not be true […]
On June 16, 2012, the Canada Gazette, published the proposed new regulations formalizing procedures before the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (the Board). These proposed new regulations represent an effort to enhance the efficiency of hearings before the Board through the formal adoption of codified practices and terminology already utilized by the board; the incorporation […]
Brett Gaylor's 2008 documentary RiP!: A Manifesto is, at heart, a defence of his “favourite band”, Girl Talk. It is therefore unsurprising that it does not appear to be a balanced look at the state of copyright law today, but rather a one-sided picture of current copyright law. Nonetheless, it succeeds in raising some interesting […]
On June 11 2012 an article by Vinay Menon appeared in the Toronto Star titled “Anne of Green Gables to be remade for TV”. The article reports that Kate Macdonald Butler, granddaughter to author Lucy Maud Montgomery and president of the family-owned company Heirs of L.M. Montgomery Inc., will be centrally involved in a new […]
In a bold move, China has rewritten parts of its intellectual property laws to allow for Chinese companies to make generic copies of life-saving medication still under patent. These domestically produced drugs will be offered for substantially less than what their North American and European pharmaceutical competitors currently charge. The changes will provide local drug […]
The Japanese restaurant ‘Fuku’ (pronounced foo-koo), which recently opened a new West Palm Beach location, ran into a snag while attempting to register their trademark. The Florida Department of State Divisions of Corporations rejected the application on the basis of subsection 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which states that a mark that “consists of, compromises […]
The UK will likely be implementing new anti-piracy measures through the publication of a new code this month.
The battle’s heating up, but this time it’s not in kitchen stadium – it’s in the courthouse. Today’s secret ingredient - copyright which protects reality TV shows such as Iron Chef, American Idol, Real World, Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MXC) and Big Brother.
When suspected Montreal “body parts” killer, Luka Magnotta, was detained in Berlin on June 4 following an international manhunt, only one small piece of a complex legal web was resolved. In addition to the ongoing murder investigation, digital issues involving web hosting of explicit content and concerns about trademark denigration have been thrust to the […]