E-TIPS

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has set aside a lower court's decision which had held that the trade-mark DOUBLEMINT was registrable because it was not "exclusively descriptive".

The US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit affirmed the decision of a lower court holding that Michigan's statutory fair reporting privilege can shield tortfeasors from liability involved in the posting of allegedly libelous court documents on the Internet, provided that no additional false or libelous statements are added to the posting.

Luo Yongzhong, a Chinese dissident, was given a three-year jail sentence for subversion after expressing his political opinions online.   He published more than 150 articles in online discussion forums, articles which criticized the socialist system and advocated greater human rights and democracy.   The People's Intermediate Court found the articles to be "an incitement to subversion" and to create "a negative influence on society."   After serving his sentence, Luo will be stripped of his civil rights for an additional two years.

The US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed in part a lower court decision that Cable & Wireless Internet Services, Inc. (C&W) had infringed a patent (the MIT patent) owned by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and exclusively licensed to a third party.   The MIT patent was directed to a global hosting system and methods for decreasing congestion and delay in accessing web pages on the Internet (commonly known in the industry as content distribution networks or CDN, a network of servers delivering content on behalf of an origin site).

All good things come to an end – including the cell phones, PDAs and computers that have become an integral part of our wired and wireless world.   A growing concern arising from this reality is the burgeoning amount of hazardous waste represented by discarded electronic equipment.   Computer components, for example, contain lead and mercury, both of which are considered highly toxic.

Two independent pharmacies recently filed lawsuits against the four largest US Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs) alleging illegal business practices aimed at driving small pharmacies out of business.

IBM's participation in the budding open source software market continues to grow, as it recently concluded deals for the use of its Linux-based open source software with the governments of the United Kingdom, Russia, and Brazil.

NBIC is an acronym for nanoscience and nanotechnology, biotechnology and biomedicine (including genetic engineering), information technology, and cognitive science and neuroscience.   This cluster of related technologies is expected to have significant implications for society and, therefore, for the legal profession.   The NBIC concept, named in late 2001, was the result of a meeting that explored the social implications of nanotechnology research.   It represents a "multidisciplinary blending of science, engineering, technology and medicine" and the Canadian government has noted that this convergence will have an estimated global market worth of US $260 billion by 2005.

Instead of watching a movie mechanically projected from 35mm film, cinephiles may soon be able to watch a movie retrieved in the real-time from a hard disk similar to those in existing desktop computers.   The digital projection technology has arrived and is being tested in several countries.   The technical benefits are substantial:   the picture is clear, sharp and steady, and gone are the traces of dust and scratches in the projected image.

Microsoft's dominance in software could lead to serious consequences for the nation's cybersecurity, warns the business-technology consultancy, Gartner.   This is not because Microsoft's operating systems are inherently less secure, says a Gartner report.   Rather, it is that complete reliance on Windows for information infrastructure could result in a full system failure in a manner similar to an electrical blackout.   To prevent such a failure, Gartner suggests that by "spreading the critical business functions across multiple desktop platforms or by maintaining key operating groups on separate platforms, an organization can enhance its ability to keep at least some of its key personnel and processes functioning should a failure result."

Bill C-36 (previously reported in E-TIPS on July 3, 2003), underwent third and final reading in Parliament on October 6, 2003.   Despite controversy over whether the copyright amending provisions in it should have been included in legislation merging two federal institutions (the National Archives and the National Library), Canadian law is now more generous in its protection of rights to the unpublished works of deceased authors.

In August, the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced a decision to allow member countries to export generic copies of patented drugs to impoverished countries that have been overwhelmed by the global health emergency caused by HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.   Members' obligations would be waived under the TRIPS Agreement that currently limits the ability of countries lacking manufacturing facilities from importing cheaper generic drugs. Spurred in part by the energetic advocacy of a former Canadian politician, Stephen Lewis (who is now the UN's Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa), on September 25, the federal Government announced its intention to make the necessary changes to the Patent Act.

The Federal Court of Canada recently overturned a decision of the Registrar of Trade-marks to refuse to register the trade-mark GRILL GEAR & Design for barbeque accessories.

Javelin Strategy & Research, a San Francisco-based research firm, released its report entitled "Online Banking and Bill Paying: New Protection from Identity Theft" on October 3, 2003.   The report asserts that the practice of paying bills online can help prevent identity theft in two ways.

It is estimated that 750,000 Canadian households currently receive unauthorized satellite signals, either because they are "stolen" from licensed Canadian distributors or because they are received from unlicensed offshore distributors through so-called "grey-market" equipment.   Thus, the term "piracy" to describe this unauthorized activity.

After making numerous amendments, the European Parliament on September 24th passed a resolution for a proposed directive to harmonize rules on software-related patents in its member states. entitled Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions.   Initially drafted by the EU Commission, its aim is to provide clear guidance on what software-related subject matter may be patentable.   Under the proposed Directive, in order for a computer-implemented invention to be patentable, it must make a technical contribution to the state of the art.   An invention will not make a technical contribution merely because it involves the use of a computer, network or other programmable apparatus.   The invention may only be claimed in the patent as a product or a technical production process using hardware under the control of software.

© 2003, Deeth Williams Wall LLP. All Rights Reserved. By: Amy-Lynne Williams (September 25, 2003) Introduction Beginning January 1, 2004, the Federal government's personal privacy protection legislation will come into full force. By that date, most organizations in Canada will either be subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA") or subject to substantially similar provincial privacy legislation.

© 2003, Deeth Williams Wall LLP. All Rights Reserved. By: Amy-Lynne Williams (September 25, 2003) INTRODUCTION All ten provinces in Canada have active, flourishing companies involved in e-commerce and online business and the provincial and federal laws have been changing at a rapid pace to keep up with the demands of an online economy.

On January 1, 2004, the federal government's personal privacy protection legislation will come into full force.   By that date, most organizations in Canada either will be subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA") or subject to substantially similar provincial privacy legislation.

Three parties, Tall Ship Art Productions Ltd. (a private entity), Bluenose II Preservation Trust Society (a charitable trust), and the Government of the Province of Nova Scotia, will soon get their day in court over ownership of rights relating to the name and image of Bluenose II.   The original Bluenose was a famous Nova Scotia-based sailing ship of the early 20th Century.   It appears on Canadian dimes and on Nova Scotia vehicle licence plates.