Transplanting the Canadian UGC Exception to Hong Kong: Part 1

In July 2013, the Hong Kong government conducted a public consultation on the treatment of parody under the copyright regime. Building on two earlier consultations on digital copyright reform in December 2006 and April 2008, this latest consultation identified three legislative options: (1) clarifying the threshold for criminal copyright infringement; (2) introducing a specific criminal […]

Everything Old is New Again: Reframing the Cultural Explanation for Intellectual Property Infringement in China

Daniel Whalen won Canada's IP Writing Challenge last year for his article, "Everything Old is New Again: Reframing the Cultural Explanation for Intellectual Property Infringement in China." In anticipation for the next edition of Canada's IP Writing Challenge, we would like to share the introduction to Daniel's award-winning submission. Please enjoy and watch out next week […]

Beer, Reform, and Policy: A Pint of Chinese Trade-mark Law

If you want to order a Heineken in China, just ask the bartender for a “喜力啤酒” (pronounced “see lee pee jow”). The second word-pair, “啤酒”(“pee jow”), simply means “beer” and can be ubiquitously used to order beer in China. But the first word-pair, “喜力” (“see lee”), is the trade name chosen by Heineken to represent […]

When Eagles & Dragons Hunt Pirates: US and China Join Forces to Crack Down on Counterfeiting

The United States and China have joined forces in a combined operation to crack down on counterfeit goods, seizing more than 243,000 counterfeit electronic products, including popular consumer items made by Apple, Samsung, Dr. Dre and Blackberry.

The Curious Case of Fake Beijing Olympics Merchandise

This chapter closely scrutinizes the intellectual property developments during the Beijing Olympics to determine whether this important world event has provided the much-needed example to show that China could effectively address the counterfeiting problem when national interests are at stake.

FIPA: the Full Intellectual Property Assessment

A Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) between the People’s Republic of China and Canada is now in the final stages before ratification.  FIPAs are designed to reduce the risk of foreign investment by establishing national obligations to foreign investors.

China’s Patent vs. Innovation Dilemma

With a well-deserved reputation for counterfeiting and knockoffs, we have rarely looked to China for innovation and invention. Nevertheless, as an ever-growing giant on the world’s economic stage, China has taken steps to remedy this deficiency. About a year ago, Thomson-Reuters released their second report on the nation’s patent prowess, suggesting that China’s patent will outpace Japan […]

RIM’s Battle for Information Privacy, Market Share, and its Reputation

Robert Dewald is a J.D. Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School  Canadian telecommunications giant Research in Motion (RIM), which manufacturers the popular BlackBerry, has reportedly offered information and tools to assist India’s government in monitoring encrypted emails and messaging services (Reuters).  India, which had threatened to shut down the BlackBerry service, is the latest country to […]

Google v China: Can the repercussions be perilous?

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. China’s economic progress is coming in leaps and bounds, be it rapid development of infrastructure or moving at a rate much faster than its counterparts. But the recent Google-China controversy raises concerns about whether this will cause major problems for China in the long run. […]

Secure IPR essential for China's Growth

Virgil Cojocaru is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Google recently surprised the world by announcing it may pull out of China. In the meantime, it would no longer enforce China’s information suppression and screening platform. Ultimately, if Google leaves China, it will do so because the country’s government would not tolerate Google […]