E-TIPS

On June 12, 2020, the Quebec government introduced Bill 64, An Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information (the Bill). The Bill proposes to modernize the current framework and obligations that private and public sector entities face in the context of protecting personal information. The Bill proposes a number of amendments to the Province’s Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (the Private Sector Act). Such amendments include:

On June 9, 2020, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) announced the results of its 2019-20 survey of Canadian businesses on privacy-related issues. The OPC commissioned the survey to understand the type of privacy policies and practices that businesses have in place, the businesses’ compliance with the law, and their awareness and approaches to privacy protection. The telephone survey was conducted in late 2019 with 1,003 business representatives across Canada.

On June 11, 2020, the Federal Court of Canada (the Court) issued its decision in Toys “R” Us (Canada) Ltd v Herbs “R” Us Wellness Society (2020 FC 682), holding that use of the HERBS R US design mark was likely to depreciate the goodwill in the registered trademark TOYS R US & Design, contrary to section 22 of the Trademarks Act (the Act).

On June 5, 2020, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal (the Court) in 3510395 Canada Inc v Canada (Attorney General) 2020 FCA 103, unanimously upheld the constitutionality of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) which regulates, among other things, the sending of commercial electronic messages (CEMs), such as e-mails and text messages, to protect individuals and businesses against spam and other electronic threats.

On June 1, 2020, the Canadian Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) announced that the coming into force date for the amended Patented Medicines Regulations (Regulations) will be delayed until January 1, 2021.

On May 26, 2020, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) dismissed an appeal by Bedessee Imports Ltd. (Bedessee) from a decision of the Federal Court dismissing an application brought by Bedessee to expunge GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (UK) IP Limited (GSK)’s HORLICK’S and HORLICKS trademarks (the Marks) (2020 FCA 94).

On June 3, 2020, the UK-based Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) published a position paper calling for clarity over the patenting of innovations created by artificial intelligence in the United Kingdom (the Paper). The Paper is part of CIPA's work to resolve uncertainties and limitations regarding the inventorship of innovations created using artificial intelligence (AI).

The US Copyright Office (the Office) has announced the initiation of a public study to determine the extent to which copyright owners are experiencing infringement by states without adequate remedies under state law.  The Federal Register notice regarding the study indicates that the Office will also be assessing the extent to which such infringements appear to be based on intentional or reckless conduct.

On May 18, 2020, the Oregon District Court (the Court) released its decision in Leonard v Nike, Inc (Case No. 3:19-cv-01586-MO), holding that Nike, Inc (Nike) owns the “Klaw” Logo (Logo) and the right to register copyright in the Logo.

On May 14, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020 (the Bill) to renew a number of lapsed surveillance powers, including reauthorizing section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act (the Act) which allows the U.S.

On May 7, 2020, the Canadian Government Standing Committee on Finance met to hear from stakeholders impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This included publishers of Canadian newspapers and media outlets, who have called for an urgent overhaul of the Broadcasting Act to have digital media platforms share their advertising revenues with Canadian media companies.

On July 1, 2020, The United-States-Mexico Canada (USMCA) trade agreement will come into force. This agreement has led to the enactment of a new Criminal Code of Canada (CCC) provision, Article 391, which provides protection to help deter the theft of trade secrets.

On May 15, 2020, in Bauer Hockey Ltd v. Sport Maska Inc (CCM Hockey) (2020 FC 624), the Federal Court of Canada (the FC) considered section 53.1 of the Canadian Patent Act, which is a provision recently added to the Patent Act which allows for patent prosecution history to be admitted into evidence in court proceedings.

Presentation by Hashim Ghazi of Deeth Williams Wall LLP and Nancy Shapiro of Koskie Minsky LLP exploring key considerations in drafting and maintaining effective employment and contracting agreements, including what employers need to know about the post-pandemic working world.

On May 6, 2020, Thomson Reuters and West Publishing Corporation (the Plaintiffs) filed a claim for copyright infringement against ROSS Intelligence Inc. (ROSS) alleging that ROSS used artificial intelligence to obtain proprietary data from the Westlaw database to create a competing product. 

On May 4, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched an online intellectual property marketplace – Patents 4 Partnerships (the Platform) – to help connect patent licensors and licensees in key technologies.

On May 7, 2020, the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Privacy Commissioners in Canada released a Joint Statement on contract tracing apps, entitled “Supporting public health, building public trust: Privacy principles for contact tracing and similar apps.”  The Statement invites the various levels of government, if they plan to use apps for contact tracing or for notifying individuals that they have been in close proximity of someone who is or is likely to be a carrier of COVID-19, to respect a set of principles.  These principles include:

On April 22, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied the petition to recognize DABUS as the inventor of patent application No 16/524,350 (’350).

On April 23, 2020, the Ontario Superior Court of Canada (the Court) released its decision in Wiseau Studio, LLC et al v Harper et al (2020 ONSC 2504), dismissing the plaintiffs’ action for copyright infringement against the creators of a documentary entitled “Room Full of Spoons”. 

There has been a recent increase in licenses granted by Health Canada for “hand sanitizer products” amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to qualify as a hand sanitizer, Health Canada has specified that the product must contain at least 60% ethanol alcohol. Furthermore, in order to use the terms “hand sanitizer” or “disinfectant”, evidence that the products meet these standards needs to be included in an application to Health Canada.