IP Year in Review 2015: A Look Back on the IP Stories That Will Shape 2016

2015 was an eventful year in intellectual property (IP) law worldwide. Canada in particular saw a lot of activity across all three major areas of IP in both legislation and jurisprudence. Topping the IP news charts was the proposed ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): a wide-ranging international deal negotiated by twelve nations, including Canada.

The General Data Protection Regulation: From Promises to Reality

The re-posting of this comment is part of a cross-posting collaboration with MediaLaws: Law and Policy of the Media in a Comparative Perspective. In December 2012, the Commission put forward its proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). According to the Commission’s own words, “The Regulation is an essential step to strengthen citizens’ fundamental […]

IIROC Releases Two Cybersecurity Resources: Best Practices Guide and Incident Planning Guide

The re-posting of this article is part of a cross-posting agreement with CyberLex. Last week, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (“IIROC“) published two detailed guides to help IIROC-regulated firms protect themselves and their clients against cyber threats and attacks.  The creation of these guides was telegraphed at the beginning of the year  in IIROC’s annual consolidated […]

IP in 3D: How IP Owners Should Respond to 3D Printers

Although intellectual property (IP) law adequately protects many forms of IP, the coming commercialization of cheap 3D printers may facilitate new means of mass pirating that existing law cannot prevent. Though legal reform is the common strategy used to deal with IP challenges, the efforts of IP owners might be better spent finding new ways to monetize […]

Osgoode's IP Intensive Program: Apply Today!

We invite all 1L and 2L Osgoode students to join IP Osgoode at Osgoode’s Clinical Education and Intensive Programs General Information Session and Fair today from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm.

IP Intensive: A Semester at Innovation, Science and Economic Development (formerly known as Industry Canada)

As the title of this blog alludes to, I joined the Copyright and Trademark Directorate (CTPD) at Industry Canada (IC) later transforming into the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (DISED or ISED? the jury is still out on the acronym) at a time of constant flux. I arrived at my internship a mere […]

IP Intensive: Stranger in a Strange Land - Or, How a Semester at CodeX made me Comfortable With “Think [Like a Lawyer, but] Different”

Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthling assumptions) as color means to a blind man. - Robert […]

IP Intensive: Ottawa - The Best of Both Worlds

Living and working in Ottawa is a unique, and often dual, experience. Every morning as I head to work at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), I cross the border from Ontario into Quebec. Conversations often begin in English and end in French. Ottawa itself has features of a large city, but the friendly dynamics […]

IP Intensive: A Semester at TEVA Canada

This past fall, I had an opportunity to work with the patent strategy group at Teva Canada as part of Osgoode’s Intellectual Property Law Intensive Program. Teva Canada is the Canadian branch of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., a company commonly known as one of the largest generic pharmaceutical companies in the world, though it also […]

IP Intensive: Supporting Innovation and Entrepreneurship - A Semester at ventureLAB

Before I participated in Osgoode’s Intellectual Property Law and Technology Intensive Program, I thought legal pro bono work only pertained to human rights, criminal, and refugee matters. However, after completing my internship with ventureLAB, a non-for-profit organization that helps technology entrepreneurs with their business development, I realized that entrepreneurs and small businesses are also groups […]