E-TIPS

Google Inc (Google), through an online market-making service, facilitated by its purchase of DMarc Broadcasting early in 2006, is allowing small advertisers to penetrate into the radio market in what Goggle sees as an easy-to-manage and affordable way. It does this by removing the middleman, typically the radio station's advertising department, and by using online auctions to let advertisers bid on radio time. The first radio ad resulting from this program played at the beginning of December.

In the latest chapter of a drawn-out legal battle (involving 16 proceedings in the Federal Court) over the enalapril compound (an "ACE" inhibitor used in the treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure), Brantford Chemicals Inc (Brantford) unsuccessfully appealed a decision of the Commissioner of Patents to the Federal Court. The Commissioner of Patents decision had denied the grant of a compulsory license from Merck & Co Inc (Merck).

On November 28th, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of KSR International Co v Teleflex, Inc (04-1350), potentially one of the most important US patent cases to be decided in the past several decades. The Respondent (Teleflex) originally sued the Applicant (KSR) for infringement of its US Patent No. 6,237,565, a gas pedal design that KSR contends is no more than an obvious combination of two pre-existing inventions – a pedal assembly that is height-adjustable and one that controls acceleration electronically.

On November 14, 2006, the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA) commenced an application in the Federal Court of Canada (File No T-1976-06) for judicial review of the Food and Drug Regulations, CRC c 870 (1995 DP Regulations) data protection provision amended by the Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations (Data Protection) (2006 DP Regulations).

According to a recent report, "Reforming U.S. Patent Policy", from the Council on Foreign Relations (the US-based, independent, non-profit organization that publishes Foreign Affairs), the US patent system is harming innovation and international competitiveness in that country. The author claims that the US system protects low quality patents with overly strong domestic rights, a policy which leads to economically absurd transfers of wealth, such as in the recent RIM-NTP settlement. The report points to both the Canadian and EU systems as better at achieving the appropriate balance between innovation and protection than does the current US system.

The Manitoba International Pharmacists Association (MIPA), which represents Manitoba-based Internet pharmacies, has indicated that several of its members are considering leaving the province if the provincial government does not amend its proposed new pharmacy legislation, Bill 41.

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has released its target turnaround times for 2006-7 for specific IP steps. For patents, the following targets are indicated:

The Australian Senate recently passed the Copyright Amendment Bill 2006, which amends the Copyright Act (Act) to bring it into line with Australia's obligations under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, in relation to technological protection measures. Also implemented are various recommendations from copyright law reviews to protect digital files.

A tenant (T) received prior notice from his apartment building's property management company (PM Co) that representatives would be entering his apartment as part of a building inspection. One day while T was at home, a representative, together with two property insurance inspectors, entered his apartment and began taking digital photographs of each room. PM Co's notice had not mentioned that the apartment would be photographed.

In a lengthy and detailed decision [Janssen-Ortho Inc v Novopharm Ltd (2006 FC 1234)], Justice Roger Hughes of the Federal Court of Canada has upheld the validity of a Canadian Patent for an anti-microbial drug, levofloxin.

On November 4, 2006, 26 European patent judges signed the Second Venice Resolution (Resolution) in which they agreed on the rules of procedure for the proposed European Patent Court (EPC). The Resolution proposes procedural guidelines for the consideration of the Executive Committee of the Court [the EPC?].

In one of the many interim judgments in the Ontario Superior Court (Commercial List) relating to the insolvency proceedings affecting Stelco Inc (Stelco), the Court has confirmed what many observers suspected: entering into a major IT outsourcing transaction, in and of itself, does not constitute an activity of a corporation that is out of the ordinary course of its business.

At recent US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) public hearings, one of the Commissioners, Thomas Rosch, predicted that the rapid growth of e-commerce will make it difficult for the FTC to monitor online advertising for false or misleading claims.

In the United States, the growing phenomenon of blogging has added a twist to the broader debate about advertising by lawyers. In 1978, the US Supreme Court affirmed lawyers' First Amendment rights to advertise, and each State drafted guidelines to protect consumers from deceptive legal advertisements.

In what seems much like an extended tennis match between the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and its political masters, the new Conservative government has ended play by overruling the CRTC and freeing Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services from the regulatory scheme previously proposed.

A previous issue of E-TIPS® (Vol 5, No 8, "New York State Enacts Three Identity Theft Laws", October 11, 2006) noted recently passed New York State identity theft legislation. This new legislation is in addition to three existing New York State anti-ID theft laws: the Security Freeze Law, the Disposal of Personal Records Law and the Anti-Phishing Act of 2006.

As previously reported in E-TIPS®, political pressure has been growing to move towards lower pricing of generic drugs in Canada ("National Pharmaceuticals Strategy Report: Concern about Generic Drug Prices in Canada", October 11, 2006, Vol 5, No 8), with the Ontario Government already having taken action via the enactment of Bill 102 to revise the basis for reimbursement and drug interchangeability within Ontario's drug plan ("Generic Manufacturers Call for Review of Ontario Regulations Reducing Drug Prices", October 25, 2006, Vol 5, No 9).

In Apotex Inc v AstraZeneca Canada Inc et al, 2006 SCC 49, the Supreme Court of Canada has held that there are limits to "evergreening" within the complex process of determining when a generic drug manufacturer is able to manufacture and sell a "copycat" drug.

By deciding to hear the patent infringement case Microsoft v AT&T, the US Supreme Court has set the stage for a possible outcome that could extend the reach of US patent law to include foreign activities.

The loss or theft of computers containing sensitive data has cost governments and corporations millions of dollars. Spurred by such events, the world's largest hard drive manufacturer, Seagate Technology LLC (Seagate), has turned the security spotlight away from the conventional solutions, which employ software and firewalls, to the use of automatic encryption in hard drives.