E-TIPS

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a mandatory order requiring broadband Internet providers and Internet phone companies to build wiretap access for police surveillance. This is to be achieved through mandatory centralized wiretapping hubs and must be in place by May 14 th, 2007.

Sandoz, the generics subsidiary of Novartis, has received approval for its Omnitrope human growth hormone product, a copycat version of Pfizer's Genotropin, making Sandoz the first company to win approval of a biosimilar in the EU. The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration approved Omnitrope in September 2004, and the product has been on the Australian drug market since November 2005.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has conducted its 2006 "Special 301" annual review on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection in 87 countries, as it is required to do under the provisions of the Trade Act of 1974 (Act). The mandate of the USTR under the Act is to review and monitor those countries believed to provide deficient IPR protection or inadequate market access, with the possible consequence of trade sanctions.

Two drawings from an unpublished Canadian file history were found to be citable prior art, in a recent patent case before the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. In Bruckelmyer v Ground Heaters Inc., decided on April 20, 2006, the Court considered whether documents from a Canadian file history could be considered "printed publications" under §102 (b) so as to anticipate the claims of two US patents.

On April 12, 2006, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that mobile television broadcasting services operated by Bell Mobility Inc, TELUS Mobility and Rogers Wireless Inc, in conjunction with MobiTV Inc (MobiTV), fall within the Exemption Order for New Media Broadcasting Undertakings (New Media Exemption Order) and are exempt from federal regulation, including content and Canadian ownership rules.

Apple Corps Ltd and Apple Computer have once again clashed over the field of use of the Apple Computer trade-mark. Apple Corps, which is owned by the former Beatles and their heirs, has argued that while Apple Computer is entitled to produce programs like the iTunes Music Store, it should stay out of the music business if it uses the mark, a cartoon apple with a neat bite out of its side. Apple Corps' logo is a green Granny Smith apple.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released a study of broadband Internet use as of December, 2005.

A recent spate of US litigation has explored property rights in the arrangement of human cadavers, posed in life-like positions. The bodies are partially stripped of skin and muscle tissue to reveal layers below, and are shown skateboarding, dancing and in other poses. The cadavers have been preserved through a process of polymerization called "plastination".

According to news reports, amendments to the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) are being crafted with the support of the Bush Administration and will shortly appear before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Advance comments from politicians from both sides indicate that a battle is shaping up over this next round of copyright reform.

A watershed Canadian copyright case recently settled, leaving open the question whether jewellery is a work of art protected by the Copyright Act, as are paintings, music and works of literature, or whether it is merely a "useful article" with a utilitarian function. In the United States, the issue has been resolved "” jewellery is an artistic work and therefore entitled to copyright protection. In both Canada and the US, copyright has a significantly longer term than design protection.

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed trade-mark infringement allegations made by Merck & Co Inc (Merck) against several Canadian online pharmacies. The pharmacies purchased "Zocor", the name of Merck's cholesterol reduction drug, as a keyword to trigger the display of links to the online pharmacies' web sites on search result web pages.

In a recent case, the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit applied a federal anti-hacker law, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), to an employee's use of trace remover tools to delete data from a laptop provided to him by his employer, a real estate business, International Airport Centers LLC (IAC).

In a remarkable affirmation of the centrality of electronic media to a citizen's life in the 21st Century, the Dutch government will encourage the use by every citizen of a personalized web site. The aim is to give citizens quick access to their records at public institutions and to remind them when to renew important documents, such as a passport or driver's licence, and to make citizens better informed about their tax and social security data.

The English High Court, in its Chancery Division, has rejected a copyright infringement suit brought by plaintiffs Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of the 1982 non-fiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, against the British publishers of Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code.

"Net Neutrality" refers to the concept that a network should be blind to the content it carries, in order to encourage efficient and innovative use of the network. The Internet has historically been largely neutral to the content it carries, but broadband providers have recently begun exploring methods to offer different levels of network performance based on the type of content being transmitted.

According to a recent article in The New York Times, like so many other industry sectors that are dependent on the Internet, online pharmacies that sprung up in Canada over the past several years to serve international markets are now being pressed to adapt to fast-changing conditions.

In order to update the Canadian Parliament and the public generally on the federal strategy regarding privacy concerns about the transborder and extraterritorial implications of the USA Patriot Act (Act) and the possibility that foreign legislation could affect the protection of Canadians' personal information, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat issued a report (Report) on March 28, 2006.

The convergence of the newly-released Report from the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel (Panel) and recent comments of the Minister of Industry make it likely that the Canadian telecommunications sector will soon undergo fundamental changes, including relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions.

On March 13, 2006, in Biovail Corporation v Canada (Minister of National Health and Welfare) 2006 FCA 105, the Federal Court of Appeal affirmed a decision of the Federal Court dismissing an application by Biovail Corporation (Biovail) for judicial review of the Minister of Health's (Minister) refusal to list a patent on the Patent Register.

On March 21st, French lawmakers approved legislation that would force Apple Computer Inc (Apple), Sony Corp, and other digital content providers to share copy-protection technologies with their rivals. The bill is designed to prevent the control of the online music market by any single music-playing technology.