E-TIPS

On April 8, 2008, the government introduced a new Bill, C-51, which proposes to make extensive changes to the Food and Drugs Act and other corresponding legislation. The changes would include a complete repeal of all schedules to the Food and Drugs Act (including Schedule “A”, which prohibits all claims to certain serious conditions and diseases), increased recall powers and higher penalties, a tremendous increase in regulation making authority, an apparent removal of the direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising ban, and, less controversially, the wholesale modernization of the drug, device and food approval regime. Given the minority status of the Conservative government, the fact that this bill has only received first reading and has not yet been studied by committees, it is difficult to know whether the changes proposed in Bill C-51 will become law.

We previously reported that eBay Canada Limited and eBay CS Vancouver Inc. (collectively "eBay") were ordered by the Federal Court to disclose contact information and sales volumes of top sellers ("PowerSellers") to the Minister of National Revenue (Minister) (see ETIPS®, "Court Orders E-Bay to Disclose Sellers to Canadian Tax Authority", Vol. 6, No. 8, October 10th, 2007).

In Scotch Whisky Association v. Glenora Distillers International Ltd. (2008 FC 425), Justice Harrington of the Federal Court found that the word "glen" used in association with whisky has become recognized in Canada as designating that the whisky is made in Scotland, and so whisky producers from elsewhere are prohibited from adopting it as a trade-mark.

Recently, the Canadian Government proposed additional amendments to the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations ("NOC Regulations"). The amendments remove the requirement that a patent submitted for listing on Canada's patent register before June 17, 2006, must be "relevant" to the submission for a notice of compliance ("NOC") to which the patent list relates. A drug company seeking regulatory approval to sell and market a generic drug in Canada must address the patents listed on the patent register for the innovator's version of that drug.

In a recent decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Litecubes v. Northern Light Productions (GlowProducts) (Fed. Cir. 2008)), the Court of Appeals found that a Canadian company, GlowProducts, infringed a US patent owned by Litecubes, even though the legal title of the product was transferred outside the US.

In United States v. Arnold, No. 06-50581 (9th Cir. 2008), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that US customs officers do not need to have reasonable suspicion to search the files on a person's computer or personal electronic storage device at the border.

The London Agreement (the "Agreement"), designed to reduce the costs associated with translation of European patents, entered into force on May 1, 2008. The 14 states that have implemented the Agreement have agreed to terms that would alleviate the requirement for translation of European patents.

Changes to Schedule "A" to Canada's Food and Drugs Act Come Into Force June 1, 2008 (PDF Format)

On April 29, 2002, the Canadian Registrar of Trade-marks gave notice under section 45(1) of the Trade-marks Act to Scott Paper Limited (Scott Paper) to show use of the registered trade-mark VANITY in the preceding three years, or date of last use and reasons for the absence of use.

The New Zealand Parliament has passed a 61-page amending statute, the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Bill (Bill) to modify the Copyright Act in order to address digital technologies issues and to bring it in line with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties.

A Hearing Panel (Panel) of the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board (Board) has departed from its Excessive Price Guidelines (Guidelines) in a case which, according to the Board, raised "important considerations of policy" in the way in which the Board should determine when a medicine is excessively priced.

In a recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr Kenneth Mandl and Dr Isaac Kohane describe how the entry of large Internet companies, such as Microsoft and Google, into the field of managing patient records online may transform the way doctors and patients manage health information. They raise concerns that so much vital and intensely personal information will be stored in the hands of private companies and shunted back and forth over the Internet, and the difficulties in protecting such information.

The author of the popular Harry Potter series, J K Rowling, unusually for her, made a public appearance, on Monday April 14, 2008 when she took the witness stand in a Manhattan federal courtroom.

Phillip Parker, a professor of management science at INSEAD, claims to be "the most published author in the history of the planet" by writing more than 200,000 books. This feat may be unique because the books are compilations of publicly available information gathered from the Internet.

By: Michael Migus Health Canada has released a draft guidance document entitled Information and Submission Requirements for Subsequent Entry Biologics (SEBs) (Guidance Document), which will be the topic of a two-day consultation to take place in May, 2008. Interested parties may submit their comments on the Guidance Document to Health Canada until April 16, 2008.

Two days after she purchased goods from Home Depot of Canada Inc (Home Depot) using her debit card, a complainant (Customer) brought the goods back to obtain a refund. The Customer produced the receipt but did not have her debit card with her and, as a result, the Home Depot employee refused to process the return of the goods unless the Customer provided her driver’s license for entry in the company’s computer system.

Dr Tanya Byron, a celebrated UK physician and broadcaster, has recently authored a ground breaking report (Byron Report) outlining a national strategy for child Internet safety. Formally titled "Byron Review: Children and New Technology", the Byron Report was delivered to the Home Office on March 27, 2008.

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) suggests that the deadlines imposed on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) to review drug submissions may lead to rushed approvals and the emergence of unanticipated safety problems once drugs are marketed.

Recently, as a result of the Tafas v Dudas, decision, US patent applicants could be heard breathing a collective sign of relief as the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Court) declared null and void the USPTO rule changes that were to come into effect last November.

On March 6, 2008, the privacy commissioners for Alberta, British Columbia and the federal jurisdiction jointly issued policy statements entitled "Guidelines for Overt Video Surveillance in the Private Sector – March 2008" (Guidelines).