E-TIPS

In a recent decision of the English Court of Appeal (Unilin Beheer BV v Berry Floor NV et al, 2007 EWCA Civ 364), the interplay between parallel patent proceedings at both the national and international level was explored. A European patent was litigated in the UK, and was simultaneously opposed through the European Patent Office (EPO) process. In the UK litigation, the patent was held to be valid and infringed, and all avenues of appeal were exhausted. The defendant raised the argument that if via the pending EPO process the patent were held to be invalid, it should not have to pay any damages or costs, despite the UK judgment.

A House of Commons committee has recommended that Canadian businesses should notify their customers of data breaches. The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (Committee) tabled its review of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) on May 2, having heard dozens of witnesses give testimony over a period of several months.

The United States Supreme Court (Court) has overturned a decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit Court) on the issue of obviousness: KSR International v Teleflex Inc, US Supreme Court No 04-1350 (2007).

By a 2-1 majority decision (Sanofi-Aventis Canada Inc v Novopharm Limited et al, 2007 FCA 163), the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that it is an abuse of process under section 6(5)(b) of the Patented Medicines (NOC) Regulations for a holder of a pharmaceutical patent to attempt to re-litigate an allegation of invalidity made by a generic manufacturer, when that same allegation of invalidity has been found to be justified in a previous prohibition proceeding against another generic manufacturer.

Ordinarily, US patent law does not apply outside American borders. However, a provision of the US Patent Act (35 USC §271(f)) prohibits the export of components of US-patented inventions from the United States. This was intended to prevent American companies from manufacturing components of US-patented inventions in the United States and then shipping them overseas for final assembly and use in foreign markets.

Effective April 28, 2007, Ms Mary Carman has been appointed Canada's new Commissioner of Patents, Registrar of Trade-marks, and CEO of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), replacing the outgoing Commissioner, David Tobin.

On April 5, 2007, the Federal Court of Appeal released a decision (Pharmascience Inc v The Minister of Health et al, 2007 FCA 140) in which it addressed the question whether or not generic drug manufacturers should be permitted to submit multiple Notices of Allegation (NOAs) with respect to a patent in cases where the subsequent NOA(s) allege invalidity on ground(s) different from the previous NOA.

In a move that Internet radio broadcasters (webcasters) argue could be the beginning of the end for Internet radio, the US Copyright Royalty Board (Royalty Board) has rejected an appeal to reconsider increases in royalties paid by webcasters.

The New York City Comptroller, William C. Thompson, has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Justice Department to investigate whether Wal-Mart illegally spied on its shareholders.

The purchase of DoubleClick, the world's No 1 digital ad-serving company, by Google, the world's largest search engine, has brought calls from industry giants Microsoft and AT&T, and a policy watchdog, the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), for Federal Trade Commission (FTC) review of the acquisition.

In a landmark case handed down earlier in April, the European Court of Human Rights (Court) has awarded an employee of a public sector employer in Wales damages and costs because her employer had monitored her personal Internet usage and her telephone call activity.

After a public consultation process, the Ontario Government has introduced amendments to the Education Act which will have the effect of abandoning zero tolerance regulation of behaviour in the schools and which, among other proposals, will add bullying and cyber-bullying to the list of infractions for which suspension from school must be considered.

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada (Commissioner) has found that six Canadian banks did not contravene federal privacy law by disclosing their customers' personal information to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a financial industry-owned messaging and transaction-handling cooperative based in Belgium. The ruling contrasts with the findings of some EU data protection commissioners who have concluded that SWIFT breached their respective data protection laws.

The Alberta Information & Privacy Commissioner (Commissioner) has released a decision that considers the countervailing interests of privacy and security in a public place – namely, a men's locker room in a sports centre.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that a US prohibition on online gambling unfairly targets offshore casinos, thereby opening the door to sanctions by WTO members against the US.

The Federal Court of Canada recently reviewed a decision of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) which had ruled that the combination psoriasis medicine Dovobet was being sold at an excessive price by Leo Pharma Inc (Leo Pharma). Dovobet contains two active ingredients: antipsoriadic calcipotriol and betamethasone dipropionate. The individual components are marketed separately as Dovonex and Diprosone (or Diprolene), respectively.

The European Commission (EC) recently set out its vision, in the form of a Communication to the European Parliament and to the Council, for a fresh look at the various options to overhaul the current patent system in Europe.

US regulators at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have created new rules aimed at preventing data thefts from phone companies – the practice known as "pretexting", by which consumer information is disclosed to unauthorized third parties.

On March 20, 2007, Justice Roger Hughes of the Federal Court of Canada released an important decision involving five applications for judicial review (four regarding the medicine ramipril and one regarding the medicine desmopressin). The decision may be the first to apply and elaborate on the reasons for judgment in the Supreme Court of Canada case of AstraZeneca Canada Inc v Canada (Minister of Health), [2006] 2 SCR 560 (noted in a previous issue of E-TIPS®, November 8, 2006, Vol 5 No 10, "Statutory Freeze Period Sought by Innovator Drug Company Under NOC Regulations Denied by Supreme Court of Canada").

Single letter marks have generally been thought to afford a limited degree of protection on the assumption that it would be difficult to develop goodwill and consumer recognition in relation to them. However, recent trade-mark litigation in the Federal Court of Canada involving automotive brands has proven to be the exception to that rule.