Full-Scale Patent War Waged Over Educational IT Systems Full-Scale Patent War Waged Over Educational IT Systems

Patents
May 6, 2009May 6, 20092015-07-08
A cross-border patent dispute in the education software sector has sparked a heightened use of the Internet in enlisting public support for the protagonists.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/fullscale-patent-war-waged-over-educational-it-systems

Growing Debate in US over Preferred Cyber Strategy: Defense or Offence? Growing Debate in US over Preferred Cyber Strategy: Defense or Offence?

Cybersecurity
May 6, 2009May 6, 20092015-07-08
In the wake of a new report (NAS Report) from the US National Academy of Sciences, The New York Times has recently run a series of articles on what strategies the US could or should follow in the evolving world of cyberwarfare. Coming hard on the heels of Canada's own brush with cyberwarfare (E-TIPS® Vol 7, No 20, April 8, 2009 "Ghostnet Electronic Spying Links Canada, China and Tibet"), it is clear that what may have formerly been thought to be of academic interest, is assuming a more critical role in government planning.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/growing-debate-us-over-preferred-cyber-strategy-defense-or-offence

Supreme Court of Canada Finds There Are No Privacy Interests in Discarded Garbage Supreme Court of Canada Finds There Are No Privacy Interests in Discarded Garbage

Privacy
April 22, 2009April 22, 20092015-09-23
The Supreme Court of Canada (Court) recently released its decision in R v Patrick (2009 SCC 17), finding that any privacy interest in discarded garbage is relinquished once it has been left by a home owner for disposal. Although the facts of the case related to materials that led to a drugs raid by police, the Court’s reasoning could have application to discarded information generally.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/supreme-court-of-canada-finds-there-are-no-privacy-interests-discarded-garbage

Operators of File-Sharing Web Site Liable for Copyright Infringement Operators of File-Sharing Web Site Liable for Copyright Infringement

Copyright
April 22, 2009April 22, 20092015-09-23
A Swedish court has held the operators of The Pirate Bay file-sharing web site liable for infringing Swedish copyright law. The four men were ordered to pay 30 million Swedish kroner (US $3.6 million) in damages to several entertainment companies and were each sentenced to one year in prison.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/operators-of-filesharing-web-site-liable-for-copyright-infringement

New E-Waste Regulations in Force in Ontario New E-Waste Regulations in Force in Ontario

Information Technology
April 22, 2009April 22, 20092015-07-08
On April 1 2009, new Regulations implementing Phase 1 of the Ontario Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program (the WEEE Program) came into effect.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/new-ewaste-regulations-force-ontario

Health Canada Releases Revised Guidance on Subsequent Entry Biologics Health Canada Releases Revised Guidance on Subsequent Entry Biologics

Food and Drug
April 22, 2009April 22, 20092015-07-08
Health Canada has released a revised version of the "Draft Guidance for Sponsors: Information and Submission Requirements for Subsequent Entry Biologics (SEBs)" (Revised Guidance), which updates the original version of the guidance document previously released in January, 2008 (Original Guidance) (for commentary on the Original Guidance, see "Health Canada Releases Draft Guidance on Subsequent Entry Biologics" E-TIPS®, Vol 6, No 20, April 9, 2008). The Revised Guidance is intended to reflect stakeholder comments received during consultations.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/health-canada-releases-revised-guidance-on-subsequent-entry-biologics

Cyberattacks and US Utility Vulnerability Cyberattacks and US Utility Vulnerability

Cybersecurity
April 22, 2009April 22, 20092015-07-08
On the heels of the recent Canadian report on the cyber espionage network named Ghostnet (E-TIPS®, Vol 7, No 20, "Ghostnet Electronic Spying Links Canada, China and Tibet", April 8, 2009), a key US non-governmental agency has asserted that electric utilities need to guard against the dangers of "simultaneous manipulation" of computers within utility substations and the possible effect on the US power grid.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/cyberattacks-and-us-utility-vulnerability

Virginia's Anti-Spam Law Found Unconstitutional Virginia's Anti-Spam Law Found Unconstitutional

Information Technology
April 22, 2009April 22, 20092015-07-08
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of a decision of the Virginia Supreme Court (the Court) in the case Jaynes v Commonwealth of Virginia, striking down Virginia's anti-spam law as unconstitutional.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/virginias-antispam-law-found-unconstitutional

Ghostnet Electronic Spying Links, Canada, China and Tibet Ghostnet Electronic Spying Links, Canada, China and Tibet

Information Technology
April 8, 2009April 8, 20092015-07-08
In 2008, an associate from the SecDev Group, an Ottawa-based think tank, traveled to India to investigate suspected security breaches with the Dalai Lama's computer. A compromised computer system was found, infected with "malware" that allowed an unknown entity to spy on the Tibetan government’s computers and extract its data.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/ghostnet-electronic-spying-links-canada-china-and-tibet

Federal Privacy Commissioner Files Suit Against Air Canada Over Refusal to Disclose Passenger Information Federal Privacy Commissioner Files Suit Against Air Canada Over Refusal to Disclose Passenger Information

Privacy
April 8, 2009April 8, 20092015-07-08
The Federal Privacy Commissioner of Canada (Commissioner) has commenced an action against Air Canada in the Federal Court of Canada over Air Canada's refusal to disclose records relating to an "unruly" passenger. The Commissioner is taking the action in the belief that passengers have a right to know what information is being collected about them by airlines.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/federal-privacy-commissioner-files-suit-against-air-canada-over-refusal-to-disclose

Adidas Initiates THREE STRIPE Trade-mark Infringement Action in Canada Adidas Initiates THREE STRIPE Trade-mark Infringement Action in Canada

Trademarks
April 8, 2009April 8, 20092015-07-08
Adidas AG has initiated a trade-mark infringement action in the Federal Court of Canada against Payless Shoesource Canada LP, for infringement of its THREE STRIPE trade-mark (Court File No T-519-09). In 2008, Payless Shoesource Inc was ordered to pay Adidas America Inc $300 Million in damages in a similar action in the US (see "Payless to Pay More - Adidas Awarded $300 Million in US Trade-mark Action" E-TIPS®, Vol 6, No 23, May 21, 2008).
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/adidas-initiates-three-stripe-trademark-infringement-action-canada

US Federal Court of Appeals Approves USPTO's Patent Rules US Federal Court of Appeals Approves USPTO's Patent Rules

Patents
April 8, 2009April 8, 20092015-07-08
In a split decision in Tafas v Doll, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has concluded that most of the rules issued in 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) relating to the practice for patent applications (see E-TIPS® Vol 6, No 5, August 29, 2007 "USPTO Makes Changes to the Patent Application Rules") were made within the USPTO's rulemaking authority. The four rules at issue would limit the number of continuing applications and requests for continued examination (RCEs) an applicant has as of right for each application, and would require a pre-examination search of prior art for applications containing more than five independent claims or 25 claims in total.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/us-federal-court-of-appeals-approves-usptos-patent-rules

Ontario Court Orders Disclosure of Chat Site Information Ontario Court Orders Disclosure of Chat Site Information

Litigation
April 8, 2009April 8, 20092015-07-08
In an interlocutory proceeding in Warman v Fournier, Justice Kershman of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Court) has ordered the operators of the Free Dominion chat site, Connie and Mark Fournier, to disclose information about eight anonymous posters. Richard Warman, a human rights lawyer, is suing the Fourniers for libel based on their failure to remove certain posts by the anonymous posters after he complained.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/ontario-court-orders-disclosure-of-chat-site-information

New Zealand Withdraws Controversial Copyright Law New Zealand Withdraws Controversial Copyright Law

Copyright
April 8, 2009April 8, 20092015-07-08
In a previous issue (Vol 7, No 16, February 11, 2009 "Should ISPs Be Forced to Cut Off Infringers?"), E-TIPS® reported that New Zealand planned to implement a law that would have forced ISPs to cut off the Internet access of users accused of copyright infringement. Just prior to implementation in February, users protested the law by both a traditional demonstration and an online protest that involved users "blacking out" their web sites and social networking pages.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/new-zealand-withdraws-controversial-copyright-law

Dutch Government Detains Generic Drugs in Transit Dutch Government Detains Generic Drugs in Transit

Food and Drug
April 8, 2009April 8, 20092015-07-08
Recently the Dutch Government detained a shipment of the generic antiretroviral abacavir (ZIAGEN), which was en-route to Nigeria from India, on the grounds that the shipment breached the intellectual property rights of the branded manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The shipment was detained even though GSK did not have any plans to challenge the legality of the shipment and it did not believe that its patents on abacavir had been infringed. This followed a similar detainment several months ago by the Dutch Government of a shipment of the generic blood pressure medication losartam (COZAAR), which was in transit from India to Brazil. These detainments have raised questions about the conflict between European Union (EU) legislation and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/dutch-government-detains-generic-drugs-transit-0

Dutch Government Detains Generic Drugs in Transit Dutch Government Detains Generic Drugs in Transit

Food and Drug
April 8, 2009April 8, 20092015-07-08
Recently the Dutch Government detained a shipment of the generic antiretroviral abacavir (ZIAGEN), which was en-route to Nigeria from India, on the grounds that the shipment breached the intellectual property rights of the branded manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The shipment was detained even though GSK did not have any plans to challenge the legality of the shipment and it did not believe that its patents on abacavir had been infringed. This followed a similar detainment several months ago by the Dutch Government of a shipment of the generic blood pressure medication losartam (COZAAR), which was in transit from India to Brazil. These detainments have raised questions about the conflict between European Union (EU) legislation and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/dutch-government-detains-generic-drugs-transit

Canada and US Accelerate Adoption of Electronic Health Records Canada and US Accelerate Adoption of Electronic Health Records

Information Technology
March 25, 2009March 25, 20092015-07-08
For some time now, technologies for managing health records electronically have been available to the medical community, on the assumption that electronic health records (EHR) lower overall health costs and improve patient care. Over the past decade, many standards and competing technologies have been developed, with some gaining widespread use in hospitals and large institutions. However, the use of EHR has not been universally adopted, especially beyond large institutions, because of the cost and complexity of implementation.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/canada-and-us-accelerate-adoption-of-electronic-health-records

Seattle Newspaper Stops the Presses to Go All-Digital Seattle Newspaper Stops the Presses to Go All-Digital

Information Technology
March 25, 2009March 25, 20092015-07-08
On March 17, 2009, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper (SPI) became the largest American newspaper to shift from a printed product into a web-only news source. The decision came after Hearst Corporation, which owns SPI and put it up for sale in January after sustained financial losses, reported that it had failed to find a buyer for the newspaper.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/seattle-newspaper-stops-presses-to-go-alldigital

Data Retention in the EU and UK — Latest Developments Data Retention in the EU and UK — Latest Developments

Privacy
March 25, 2009March 25, 20092015-09-23
The EU Data Retention Directive (Directive) came in to effect in the UK on March 15, 2009, requiring UK ISPs to retain and store communication information for a full year.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/data-retention-eu-and-uk-%E2%80%94-latest-developments

A Canadian Virtual Street View Service Launched in BC A Canadian Virtual Street View Service Launched in BC

Information Technology
March 25, 2009March 25, 20092015-09-23
The federal and the Ontario Privacy Commissioners have raised possible concerns about privacy issues that may emerge from the advent of a new street-view service, featuring high-resolution photos of main streets and residential areas in British Columbia.
Deeth Williams Wall https://www.dww.com/articles/a-canadian-virtual-street-view-service-launched-bc

Disclaimer: This Newsletter is intended to provide readers with general information on legal developments in the areas of e-commerce, information technology and intellectual property. It is not intended to be a complete statement of the law, nor is it intended to provide legal advice. No person should act or rely upon the information contained in this newsletter without seeking legal advice.

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