OpenCourseWare program sees rise and makes rapid strides for free education online

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. The much deliberated topic of making education easily accessible and available for no cost is indeed coming closer to reality, with a huge increase in the number of students using OpenCourseWare. With institutions like Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and M.I.T making learning materials easily accessible online, there is a great […]

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. […]

Digital future for the entertainment industry: Global Opportunities and Challenges

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. On Thursday, March 4, IP Osgoode hosted a talk by Frances Seghers, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Government Affairs for Sony Pictures Entertainment.  Her talk was a guest lecture in Barry Sookman’s intellectual property law class. Frances began the lecture by explaining a little bit […]

Efficacy of TRIPS public health amendment raises concern at the WTO

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. WTO members on 2 March 2010, debated the question of whether a 2003 decision designed to improve access to medicines is working. Although opinions expressed in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council varied, members agreed that they should look at real-life […]

Who quizzes WHO’s role in solving the Influenza pandemic crisis: An Insight

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. The World Health Organization (WHO), last week witnessed tumultuous questions from various nations at the meeting of Executive Board Members of WHO on the outcomes of an Expert Working Group on Research and Development Financing (EWG) which raised concerns about methods of work employed […]

Openness of Internet amidst wisdom of crowds

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. The internet has been a useful resource for all ages across the globe. Although the first effects of the revolution were seen in the West, it subsequently spread across the world. Be it the open source software, access to literary and artistic works, music, […]

Ordinary Observer Test Prevails Over Point of Novelty for Design Patents

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. The test for determining the validity of design patents should be the “ordinary observer test” and not the “point of novelty”. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal circuit (CAFC) in the recent case of International Seaway Trading Corp. v. Walgreens Corporation ruled that […]

Manchester Manifesto questions ‘Ownership of Science’: A Renaissance or Fantasy?

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. In what could be seen as a strange or rather surprising move, a distinguished group of academicians, the majority of which are based at the University of Manchester, have issued something called the Manchester Manifesto. The Manifesto Group brings together international experts from relevant disciplines […]

WIPO and the Future of Intellectual Property

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Intellectual Property Theory course. WIPO has been the forefront organization within the United Nations (UN) dedicated to develop a balanced and accessible international Intellectual Property (IP) system. Although it was established in 1967, its history stretches back to one hundred and thirty […]

Bangkok to Barcelona: Uncertainties loom large over the issues of sharing green technology for environmental protection

Nirav Bhatt is an LLM Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. From 2-6 November 2009, the meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group for the ongoing negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol to enhance international climate change cooperation took place in Barcelona, Spain. The Barcelona talks […]