Posted: February 15th, 2012 | Author: Kevin P. Siu | Filed under: Intellectual Property, Patent, Pharmaceuticals | Tags: TIP Conference | No Comments »
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 »
Posted: February 13th, 2012 | Author: Kevin P. Siu | Filed under: Events, Intellectual Property, Patent | Tags: TIP Conference | No Comments »
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 »
Posted: February 9th, 2012 | Author: Kevin P. Siu | Filed under: Internet, Policy | No Comments »
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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Posted: January 17th, 2012 | Author: Kevin P. Siu | Filed under: Copyright Reform, Intellectual Property, Policy | 2 Comments »
The story of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its sister act, Protect IP Act (PIPA) has been an intriguing and increasingly polarizing one. As Sarit wrote a few days ago, the increasing pressure from tech companies has forced the White House to come out against certain provisions, such as the DNS blocking provision in SOPA and other measures that would “tamper” with the underlying security measures of internet infrastructure. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: December 4th, 2011 | Author: Kevin P. Siu | Filed under: International, Privacy, Smart Phones, Technology | No Comments »
Last week, a furor was caused by software developer Carrier IQ, who develop software used to track mobile phone usage in diagnostic and network monitoring purposes. A researcher, Trevor Eckhart, reverse-engineered his HTC Evo Android phone and found that Carrier IQ’s software tracked his keystrokes, search queries and text messages with no ability to turn it off. He posted his results in a YouTube video showing ostensibly how his information was recorded and transmitted to carriers in the background on his phone. The video attracted massive attention, gathering 1.5 million hits in a week, and evoked a cease-and-desist letter from Carrier IQ’s legal team which they subsequently withdrew and apologized for after the Electronic Frontier Foundation stepped in.
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Posted: October 17th, 2011 | Author: Kevin P. Siu | Filed under: Events, Intellectual Property | No Comments »
The last panel of last Friday’s CloudLaw conference was the Competition Policy and Intellectual Property panel discussing the existing policies regulating cloud computing providers, the effect of government legislation on cloud computing, and how upcoming IP and copyright legislation will affect the future growth of the field.
The four distinguished speakers were Prof. Salil Mehra from the Temple University Beasley School of Law, Prof. Pamela Samuelson from the Berkeley Law School, Dr. Craig McTaggart, Director of Broadband Policy from TELUS Communications, and Prof. Oliver Goodenough from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
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