Intellectual Property – Page 2

Charisma Snyder registered a trade name “Divine Doggies Grooming & Boutique” on July 27, 2007 and “Divine Doggies Spa & Boutique” on August 14, 2007. A later name search did not reveal “Divine Pet Spa”, either as part of a corporate name or a trade-mark, so she incorporated Divine Doggies Spa & Boutique Inc. on September 8, 2007. It commenced dog grooming services in June, 2008. As early as 2006, however, Divine Pet Spa Ltd. had engaged in significant marketing of its cat and dog grooming business in order to create goodwill in the Calgary marketplace. In Divine Pet Spa Ltd. v Divine Doggies Spa & Boutique Inc., 2008 ABQB 618, Madam Justice C.L. Kenny of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench granted Divine Pet Spa Ltd. an interlocutory injunction against Divine Doggies Spa & Boutique Inc., restraining it from using and advertising the name “Divine Doggies Spa”. This decision is a reminder that, by using its corporate name or registered trade name, a business can be liable in tort law for passing off its products or services as those of another business.

Bill C-61 Locks Out User Rights

By Greg Hagen

On June 17, 2008

In Intellectual Property

Cases, Legislation and Proposed Legislation Considered: Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act, WIPO Copyright Treaty; Performances and Phonograms Treaty; Théberge v. Galerie d’Art du Petit Champlain inc., 2002 SCC 34 ; CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2004 SCC 13.

PDF Version: Bill C-61 Locks Out User Rights

Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act, tabled in the House of Commons by Alberta MP Jim Prentice on June 12^th, 2008, contains proposed amendments to the Copyright Act designed to allow Canada to implement and ratify the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (“Internet Treaties”). The centerpiece of the Bill is s. 41, which generally prohibits the circumvention of technological measures; that is, apart from a few narrow exceptions, it prohibits the unlocking of digital locks on content such as software, digitized music, digitized books and other protected subject matter, even for the purpose of exercising user rights recognized in the Copyright Act, such as fair dealing, and for some rights explicitly recognized in Bill C-61 (e.g. for time shifting or device shifting). Bill C-61 goes further still, generally prohibiting unlocking services and dealing in keys to allow the unlocking of digital locks on content. Unfortunately, such provisions are at odds with the idea that owners’ rights in protected subject matter should be balanced with users’ rights in that subject matter.

A Note on Integrity in Treaty-Making & Copyright Law

By Greg Hagen

On March 11, 2008

In Intellectual Property, International Law

PDF Version: A Note on Integrity in Treaty-Making & Copyright Law

In the William Howard Lecture delivered at the University of Calgary on February 8th, 2008, Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry of the Government of Canada, spoke about the virtue of integrity in regulating greenhouse gases. He noted that “[i]t takes integrity to strike the right balance and to draw the lines that will eventually become law which our industries will comply with.” Prentice is also the lead Minister responsible for copyright. So, while Prentice used environmental legislation to illustrate his point about striking the right balance, it was not lost on the audience that the integrity of legislators and the legislative process is also relevant to striking the right balance between copyrights and other values.

Category: Intellectual Property

Use of a corporate name or registered trade name does not prevent liability for passing off

Bill C-61 Locks Out User Rights

A Note on Integrity in Treaty-Making & Copyright Law