In the ongoing dispute between Michael Hallatt, a Vancouver businessman, and U.S. based retailer Trader Joe’s, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the “Ninth Circuit”) has overruled the 2013 decision of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (the “District Court”) not to hear Trader Joe’s claim against … Continue Reading
In Pfizer Canada Inc. v. Teva Canada Limited, 2016 FCA 161, the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) recently overturned a substantial damages award in a pharmaceutical patented medicines action on the basis that the trial judge admitted improper hearsay evidence. This is an important reminder that the hearsay rule of evidence is alive and well. At … Continue Reading
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has published a Fee-for-service proposal (the Proposal), seeking public input by July 5, 2016. The Canadian government significantly amended the Trade-marks Act (the Act) in 2014, in order for Canada to accede to the Singapore Treaty, the Nice Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. Those amendments have not yet come into force, however, pending the adoption of new Regulations on … Continue Reading
In a recent decision of the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”), the FCA took the rare opportunity to consider an appeal from a section 45 expungement proceeding. In One Group LLC v Gouverneur Inc, the FCA reviewed the Registrar’s decision not to expunge One Group LLC’s (“One Group”) trade-mark registration for STK (the “Mark”) on … Continue Reading
Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal (the “Court of Appeal”) has recently had the opportunity to clarify the test for registrability of geographically descriptive trademarks in two separate decisions. The most recent of these is the decision in MC Imports Inc. v. AFOD Ltd., 2016 FCA 60. In the proceedings underlying the appeal, MC Imports Inc. … Continue Reading
When choosing a trade or business name it may seem like a good idea to incorporate the location of your business into the name. There are benefits: it is helpful for marketing, it gives your audience an idea of where your business is and who your market is, it can help establish your business in … Continue Reading
A recent decision from the lowest court of the Province of Ontario has raised questions over how recent amendments to Canada’s Copyright Act regarding “technological protection measures” (“TPMs”), such as subscription “paywalls”, will be interpreted and balanced with traditional copyright analysis. In 1395804 Ontario Limited (Blacklock’s Reporter) v. Canadian Vinters Association, the central question considered … Continue Reading
In the 21st century, when advertising is frequently conducted via the Internet, the use of keyword advertising has become an increasingly contentious point of trade-mark law. In short, keyword advertising is a form of online advertising in which a business selects words or phrases (the “keywords”) that trigger its advertisements to appear when the user … Continue Reading
The Canadian anti-spam law (“CASL”) came into effect on July 1, 2014 and includes the ability to levy severe administrative monetary penalties of up to $10 million for one violation of CASL. In March, 2015, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”) gave its first indication on issuing penalties and addressing violations of CASL by … Continue Reading
