Intellectual Property
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May 16, 2024
Artificial Intelligence Act, the EU, habeas corpus: A difficult balance
A few months ago, the EU Parliament approved the first draft of the EU regulation on AI, the so-called AI Act. At this very moment, the text is under the rectification process, i.e. the procedure set by the EU founding treaties and handled by the staff of the EU commission in order to check the consistency of the act to be promulgated with the existing EU legal framework. Since the EU general elections are about to come, it is very unlikely that the final text of the EU AI Act will be approved and published by the end of the year.
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May 15, 2024
130-year-old Kingston firm welcomes new associate
After graduating from Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law and articling in Nova Scotia, Sean Davidson is returning to his hometown of Kingston, Ont., to join Cunningham Swan Carty Little & Bonham LLP as an associate on the firm’s general litigation team.
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May 13, 2024
Alberta needs legislation to confirm power of fiduciaries extend to digital assets: law institute
When a person dies or becomes incapacitated, their money and property often fall under the management of a third-party fiduciary — and the law around that is long-standing and largely settled. But an Alberta-based legal institute is saying the time has come for the provincial government to change its rules on fiduciaries in order to deal with assets in the digital arena.
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May 09, 2024
Hope springs eternal
It may not be a prudent course of action to institute an opposition that exposes the opponent’s problems to scrutiny (D.M.C. SRL v. Giusti 2024 FC 605).
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May 08, 2024
Navigating international trademark registrations and symbol usage
As companies extend their reach globally, safeguarding intellectual property assumes heightened importance. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) provides a streamlined avenue for trademark registrations through the Madrid Protocol (an international agreement), commonly recognized as the “international trademark registration system.”
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May 07, 2024
Sweeping national security bill would boost state investigative powers; expand & create crimes, AMPs
The federal government has introduced a sweeping national security bill that would create a publicly accessible “foreign influence transparency” registry; expand the warrant, production and disclosure powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS); affect criminal accused or judicial review applicants seeking access to relevant “information related to international relations, national defence or national security”; expand the current “sabotage” offence; and create new “foreign interference” offences, along with administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) of up to $5 million and five years in prison, including for knowingly obstructing the operations of the office of a proposed new “Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner.”
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April 30, 2024
Ottawa unveils first 2024 budget bill, but doesn’t include boost to capital gains inclusion rate
The minority Liberal government says it hopes to expedite into law a newly proposed 660-page omnibus budget bill, which would enact many measures announced in this month’s federal budget, but not the government’s controversial proposal to tax capital gains at a higher rate.
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April 26, 2024
Profanity in the trademark arena
If governments want to restrict the use of commercial profanity, they should be using something other than trademark legislation.
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April 26, 2024
Highlights of the Legislative Review of the Cannabis Act: Final Report
Released in March 2024, the Legislative Review of the Cannabis Act: Final Report of the Expert Panel is the culmination of work by the independent expert panel appointed by the federal government to conduct a legislative review of the Cannabis Act. The report is a key indicator of the future of the Canadian cannabis regime and how the Act may be amended. In total, the panel made 54 recommendations to federal policymakers and 11 observations for provincial and territorial policymakers and health-care bodies.
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April 24, 2024
Court: Utilization of patented design in promotional materials not ‘use’ under Patent Act
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a finding that the utilization of a design, which if built would comprise the essential elements of a patent, does not constitute “use” to support a claim of infringement under the Patent Act.