E-TIPS

In Sanofi-Aventis Canada Inc v Novopharm Limited (2007 FCA 163), a three-judge panel of the Federal Court of Appeal held by a 2-1 majority that it was an abuse of process for the holder of a pharmaceutical patent to defend an allegation by a generic manufacturer after the same allegation, made by a different generic manufacturer in an earlier proceeding, had been found to be justified.

On May 2, the English House of Lords decided Douglas et al v Hello! Limited et al [2007] UKHL 21, the end of a six-year battle between rivals OK! Magazine (OK) and Hello! Magazine (Hello) over the publication of photographs taken at a celebrity wedding at which all unauthorized photography had been banned.

A US court has declared no prejudice to a petitioner (Mullins) in a case in which an Administrative Judge of the United States Merit System Protection Board used Google to research Mullins' prior disciplinary hearings, where the knowledge did not affect the Judge's decision.

In a recent speech to broadcasters, Konrad von Finckenstein, the newly-appointed Chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), suggested that in the future the CRTC will pursue "a lighter approach" to regulating Canadian radio and TV industries, so long as they provide support for Canadian programming.

The Federal Court of Canada recently conducted a thorough review of the law relating to selection patents in the case of Eli Lilly Canada Inc v Apotex Inc, 2007 FC 455 (the Lilly case). An application was brought under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations to prevent the Minister from issuing a Notice of Compliance (NOC) to Apotex Inc (Apotex) for olanzapine, an antipsychotic drug marketed by Eli Lilly Canada Inc (Lilly) under the brand name ZYPREXA.

The federal government has recently announced plans to make it a crime to use hand-held video cameras to copy movies in theatres. This initiative will be seen by many observers as a response to Hollywood lobbying and the recent Warner Brothers announcement that it will cancel sneak preview screenings in Canada.

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.