E-TIPS

Patent applicants in the US may soon be able to expedite the examination of their applications. The United States Patent and Trade-mark Office (USPTO) recently published a proposal setting out the procedural steps and requirements for a new accelerated examination process. Under this new process, applicants who request and are entitled to have the examination of their application accelerated will receive a final decision on the patentability of their invention within 12 months.

On June 26, 2006, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear a patent dispute between auto parts suppliers KSR International Co (KSR), of Ridgetown, Ontario, and Teleflex Inc (Teleflex), of Limerick, Pennsylvania. The outcome may re-define the standard for obviousness in US patent law.

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has expressed serious concern about possible monitoring and disclosure by ISPs of their customers' Internet activity and the implications this has for solicitor-client privilege. The CBA expressed its view in an open letter dated July 5, 2006 addressed to Vic Toews, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, and Maxine Bernier, Minister of Industry.

The familiar, happy-go-lucky "smiley face", thought by most people to be public property, is at the centre of a very unsmiling dispute over rights to the design and use of the graphic.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has held that creating options trading in stock exchange-indexed funds (ETFs) does not breach any proprietary rights of the stock exchanges which created the ETFs.

Bristol Myers Squibb Canada (BMS Canada) has taken the unusual step of not launching its colorectal cancer drug Erbitux after it could not agree on a price with Canada's Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB). The drug was approved by Health Canada nine months ago, but the PMPRB refused to allow BMS Canada to charge its proposed price because, it said, that price was too high. The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada estimates that the drug, which is used to treat advanced cases of colorectal cancer, costs about Cdn$56,000 for a standard course of therapy.

Recently, in Pfizer Canada Inc v The Minister of Health and Ratiopharm Inc, 2006 FCA 214, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal considered the issue whether an inventive selection existed in a patent which claimed the besylate salt of the cardiac drug amlodipine.

On June 26th, 2006 the US Supreme Court announced that it would not hear an appeal in the case of Federal Trade Commission v Schering-Plough Corporation.

On June 20, 2006, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) issued an Office Practice Notice entitled "Office Practice Regarding Fertilized Eggs, Stem Cells, Organs and Tissues", setting out that animals at any stage of development are not patentable subject matter under section 2 of the Canadian Patent Act, because they are considered to be higher life forms. The Practice Notice confirms CIPO's examination practice in light of the statutory requirements, as they have been interpreted in recent case law, including the "Harvard Mouse" case.

Google Earth, a 3D graphics application which provides images of the earth derived from aerial and satellite photography, has again stirred controversy. Satellite photos of Israeli Defence Forces bases are now available simply through a few clicks on Google Earth. Arguably, this information could be used by terrorist groups and this possibility has Israeli security officials seriously concerned.

As we approached the half-way point in 2006, the Federal and Ontario Privacy Commissioners were in the news.

Appropriation Art: A Coalition of Arts Professionals (Coalition) advocates what it terms a balanced approach to copyright reform, through an open letter to Minister Bev Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Minister Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry. The Coalition is composed of over 600 artists, curators, directors, educators, writers, associations and organizations from the art sector.

The Conservative Government has announced its intention to revive wiretap legislation which died with the fall of the previous Liberal Government. Likely to be tabled later this year, the Bill will require telecommunications companies to add surveillance hardware and software to their networks.

On June 9, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, by a 2-1 majority, affirmed a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) directive that VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls can be wiretapped.

On June 7, 2006, an English High Court granted an injunction to the German sportswear company, adidas-Salomon AG (adidas), allowing players to sport the company's distinctive three stripe design on their clothing during the upcoming Wimbledon Championships and the US Open.

US anti-drug-counterfeiting regulations drafted in 1999, which require wholesalers to track prescription drugs from source to pharmacist, will soon come into force.

For the first time, the New York Court of Appeals has recognized that electronic entry into the state can be sufficient to attract the jurisdiction of New York courts under that jurisdiction's long-arm statute. In Deutsche Bank Securities Inc v Montana Board of Investments, decided June 6, 2006, a $15 million bond purchase agreement was arranged between the defendant seller in Montana with the plaintiff buyer in New York entirely through the use of instant messaging and e-mail. The court unanimously held that a single business transaction is sufficient to attract jurisdiction where the defendant avails itself of the benefits of conducting business in New York State and should reasonably expect to defend its actions there.

The Globalization of the Regulatory Affairs Profession (PDF Format) By Gordon S. Jepson

Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decisions in two trade-mark cases. In both, the plaintiffs asserted that their marks were "famous" and thus entitled to a special, broader, scope of protection.

Late last month, Qualcomm Inc (Qualcomm) launched an additional patent infringement action against its competitor Nokia, this time in the United Kingdom. In November 2005, Qualcomm's subsidiary, SnapTrack, commenced patent infringement litigation in the United States alleging Nokia infringed 11 of Qualcomm's and one of Snaptrack's US patents relating to the manufacture or sale of mobile devices supporting the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) cellular standard and seeking both an injunction and monetary damages from Nokia.