Research Works Act pulled as Elsevier bows to boycott pressure

For the last month, the academic publishing industry has been the latest battlefield over American copyright law. In December 2011, the US Congress introduced the controversial Research Works Act, which aimed to reverse the National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy of requiring academic research papers funded by its federal grants to be made open access one year after its publication. In short, the RWA would require that all parties with rights to the papers in question (including publishers) come to an agreement before a paper could be made open access. In effect, this would allow publishers to unilaterally prevent papers published in their journals from becoming open access.

Although this has been attempted several times before, this iteration of the Act has drawn the greatest controversy and criticism to date. Publishers supported the bill through the Association of American Publishers, an industry lobby group representing intellectual property interests of their members.

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TIP Conference Day 4: Justice Roger Hughes of the Federal Court

- by Mohamed Hashim

Justice Hughes offered a rare glimpse into the world of patent litigation from the judicial perspective. Titled “A View From The Bench” he spoke of the patent system and what it takes to be successful in the world of patent litigation. To start, he quipped that it takes 4 things to succeed: A good lawyer, good law, good facts and good luck!

The often funny Justice Hughes then went on to talk briefly about the Federal Court and how it deals with patent litigation. He noted that the court has about 6-8 judges that typically handle the patent caseload. He compared this approach to other jurisdictions that have specialized patent courts, and said that our Canadian judges are among the best.

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Lawful Access: Reviewing the Bill C-30 Controversy

On February 14^th, the government finally re-tabled Bill C-30, long referred to as the ‘lawful access’ legislation and now re-introduced as the “Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act” or the short and controversial title of “Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act”. Commentators such as Michael Geist and the University of Toronto’s Lisa Austin have spent the past weeks and months pointing out the potential privacy issues raised by the Bill, and the false equivalencies being used to promote it. Read the rest of this entry »

TIP Conference Day 3: Pharmaceutical Patents

Today was Day 3 of the TIP Conference, which focused on the topic of Pharmaceutical Patents. As today’s panel moderator, Geoff Mowatt from Dimock Stratton noted, the pharmaceutical space is where all the big patent litigation is happening in Canada right now. $22.3 billion is spent annually by Canadians on prescription drugs, of which 58% are patented. The developing case law in this area is therefore very lucrative and high-stakes. This year, about 64% of all Canadian patent litigation will be dedicated to pharmaceuticals alone.

Today’s panel featured three seasoned patent litigators, Don Cameron from Bereskin & Parr LLP, Andrew Shaughnessy from Torys LLP, and Yoon Kang from Smart & Biggar. Read the rest of this entry »

TIP Conference Day 2: Non-Practising Entities

- with Rachel Weiner

The second day of the TIP Conference focused on the controversial and sexy (for patent law) topic of non-practising entities. The public has a tendency to label non-practising entities as patent trolls, and with that label comes a whole consortium of negative connotations. What is a patent troll? The image that appears in most people’s minds is a person who acquires many, many patents and sits in wait, under the bridge, ready to unfairly pounce on anyone who attempts to cross. Read the rest of this entry »

TIP Conference Day 1: Introduction to Patents

Monday, February 13, 2012 saw the launch of this year’s TIP Conference, a student-planned series of lunchtime talks around a specific topic relating to Technology or Intellectual Property. This year, the conference is themed around the topic of patents.

Professor David Vaver started off the session “Introduction to Patents” with a question: “What is a patent?”

After discussing the current concept of a patent—a state-granted exclusive right over the manufacture, use or sale of an invention, to its inventor or the holder of the patent, for a period of 20 years from the date of filing—Professor Vaver launched into an engaging history of the evolution of patents through the the centuries, from their early days, when they were still “letters patent” and protected things like playing cards, to the current state of the law. Read the rest of this entry »

2012 TIP Conference Lineup

The Technology and Intellectual Property Group at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law will be hosting the 2012 TIP Conference this week. The conference will run February 13th to 16th from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM each day in FLB.

This year’s conference focuses on recent developments in patent law, including pharmaceutical patents and non-practicing entities.  We have invited a variety of speakers to discuss these topics – patent litigators, industry representatives, professors who specialize in intellectual property, and even a Federal Court justice.  Whether you’ve wanted to litigate patents since you could walk, you just want to get an idea of what patents are all about, or you want to find out whether you can patent your course summaries, there is something for everyone! Read the rest of this entry »

SCC: ISPs are not “Broadcasters”

In a short ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada today (Reference re Broadcasting Act, 2012 SCC 4), it was held that Canadian Internet Service Providers are not “broadcasters” under the Broadcasting Act, S.C. 1991, c. 11, and therefore not subject to broadcasting regulations.

The Court upheld the Federal Court of Appeal ruling (2010 FCA 178) which answered a question by way of reference from the CRTC:

Do retail Internet service providers (“ISPs”) carry on, in whole or in part, “broadcasting undertakings” subject to the Broadcasting Act when, in their role as ISPs, they provide access through the Internet to “broadcasting” requested by end-users?

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Apple v Samsung: This Time It’s Global

“The United States district court is a public institution, and the workings of litigation must be open to public view,” Justice Alsup wrote in an October order in Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc. Yet this is not the approach of U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh and U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal, who have not only granted many of Apple and Samsung’s sealing motions, but in some cases have gone even further. During an October hearing on the proposed injunction, Koh was unprompted when she asked Apple and Samsung if they wanted to seal the courtroom.

This level of secrecy prevents academics, lawyers, and other curious bystanders from the cottage industry of prognosticating the results of the trial. Perhaps the best alternative is to look at the recent decision by the German courts applying EU law in an effort to draw some conclusions that could apply to the American ruling. Read the rest of this entry »

Google Announces New Privacy Policy

Last week, Google announced its new privacy policy, which will take effect on March 1. Google is doing away with the over 60 different existing privacy policies for its various products and replace them with one single shorter and simpler privacy policy.

Those who are most affected by this change are people with Google accounts. Under the new privacy policy, if a user is signed in to the Google account, Google will be able to collect and combine user information from across its various products and services. For example, Google will be able to collect and analyze your search terms on the Google search engine and suggest related videos when you next go onto YouTube. This will enable Google to form fuller and more comprehensive user profiles. As Google emphasized in its announcement, this change will allow it “to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.” Read the rest of this entry »