http://www.ipblog.ca Intellectual Property Law, Trade-marks and Internet Law in Canada Thu, 23 May 2013 15:41:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en - When a user dies, who owns the contents of that user's account? In Ajemian v. Yahoo Inc.  (May 7, 2013), a Massachusetts court considered this question. Two brothers, who administered their brother John's estate, brought a lawsuit against Yahoo for access to email messages of their deceased brother, and a declaration that the email ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=728 A license can be granted without any written agreement. It happens more often than you might think. For example, a license by verbal agreement and a "course of conduct" was granted by one party in the case of  Planification-Organisation-Publications Systèmes (POPS) Ltée and Elizabeth Posada v. 9054-8181 Québec Inc., 2013 ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=726 Self-replicating technologies present intellectual property law with some unique challenges. In the case of Bowman v. Monsanto Company (May 13, 2013), the US Supreme Court has weighed into this thorny field, and on Monday it delivered a unanimous judgment upholding the rights in Monsanto's patented soybeans. (See our earlier post: Self-Replicating Technologies (Patents ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=727 There was considerable interest in our earlier post (Trade-mark Oppositions: When “Close” becomes “Too Close”) which reviewed the competing marks POMPURE vs. POM WONDERFUL for beverages, and the marks CAMILION vs. CAMÉLÉON & Design, both for software. In another recent case Reynolds Presto Products Inc. v. P.R.S. Mediterranean Ltd., 2013 ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=725 In Pelchat v. Zone 3 Inc., 2013 QCCS 78, a Quebec court decision has addressed the dichotomy between the idea for a TV show, and the "form and expression" of ideas, as embodied in a TV show. In this case, the defendant Zone 3 was sued for a claim of ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=724 Ever wondered if you would infringe a patent but wanted to know before any infringement occurred? Honeywell International, Inc. and Arkema Inc. are competitors in the field of automotive air-conditioning systems. Honeywell owns certain United States patents covering refrigerant inventions - in this case, innovations for a cooling system with low ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=723 - "The world has changed dramatically in the last two decades... An entity may now have a profound impact upon a foreign jurisdiction solely through its virtual projection via the Internet." This statement from the New York Court of Appeals in the recent decision in Overstock v. New York Taxation and Finance (PDF) ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=722 - Field Law is proud to host the Spring 2013 meeting of the Calgary Chapter of the Licensing Executives Society on May 16, 2013 on the topic of licensing negotiations between members of Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA). Calgary - 07:00 MDT http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=721 When is one trade-mark too close to another? This is a question that we work through collaboratively with our trade-mark clients. The short answer is: "It depends..." The long answer is illustrated by these two recent cases. A trade-mark owner can apply for registration of the trade-mark, and part of the ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=720 - When a cloud privacy breach occurs in Canada, what happens? In some cases, businesses are subject to mandatory breach notification requirements. This means that a privacy breach - whether as a result of a hacker, a lost USB or some other human error - must by law be reported to the ... http://www.ipblog.ca/?p=717