On June 13th 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), revealed the applications for new generic Top-Level Domain names (gTLD) in a press release and conference. In his opening address, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN Rod Beckstrom stated that the “internet is about to change forever”, and that the gTLD […]
In the past few years, policymakers, academic commentators, consumer advocates, civil liberties groups, and user communities have expressed grave concerns about the steadily increasing levels of enforcement of intellectual property rights. Many of these concerns relate to the “alphabet soup” of transborder intellectual property enforcement, which consists of the following: SECURE (Standards to Be Employed […]
In November 2011, the Advocate-General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Yves Bot, issued an influential but non-binding legal opinion, positing that the functional aspects of computer programs should not be protected under copyright law. To do so would be against the interests of fair dealing, by preventing decompilation and reverse engineering, among other […]
Today marks the 12th annual World Intellectual Property Day. This observance day was created in 2000 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It is an opportunity to "celebrate the contribution that intellectual property makes to innovation and cultural creation." World IP Day is celebrated every year on April 26 in recognition of the day the WIPO convention […]
It must have been really nice to have worked as an IP expert for the US Trade Representative (USTR) during the 1990s. Almost everything they proposed would become law. The global maximalist agenda had the large international institutions on its side. The golden age of international maximalism saw the creation of the WTO, the TRIPS […]
Brian Chau is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Apple commenced legal action in the WIPO against several domain names with obvious similarities to Apple products that host pornography instead of Apple-approved content. The domains in question are iphonecamforce.com, iphonecam4s.com, iphonesex4s.com, iphonexxxforce.com, iphone4s.com and porn4iphones.com, as reported by Domain Name Wire. To succeed, Apple […]
Mekhala Chaubal is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School, and is currently enrolled in Professor Ikechi Mgbeoji’s Patents class, in Fall 2011. As part of the course requirements, students are asked to write a blog on a topic of their choice. The just-concluded international intellectual property conference, presented by the Canadian International Council (CIC) […]
Brent Randall is a JD candidate at the University of Ottawa. The Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recommended to the General Assembly on July 26, 2011, that a diplomatic conference be held on the protection of audiovisual performances.
Andrew Baker is a LLB/BCL candidate at McGill University Faculty of Law. WIPO members have recently met to discuss a potential treaty for the disabled that would create minimum exceptions in copyright laws to facilitate access to copyrighted works by persons who are disabled, and permit the sharing of accessible works across borders.
Kalen Lumsden is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. On 24 May 2011 the European Commission released a communication to the European Parliament addressing the shortcomings and challenges of the current intellectual property rights regime. It proposes that a single, unified market address fragmentation problems and regulatory barriers in the European Intellectual Property […]