Archive for December, 2008
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »2008 Clawbie Nominations
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
Steve Matthews has recently posted that the nomination process for the Canadian Legal Blog Awards, aka Clawbies, is underway.
Megawatt, our first nominee, is published by our colleagues with our firm’s Energy and Natural Resources Practice Group. We can’t help but “shine the light” on this relatively new blog covering a wide range of topics in the renewable energy sector.
We find Michael Geist’s blog to be an indispensible blog on internet and copyright law. Michael Geist’s depth and breadth of coverage is truly informative and inspiring.
Our final nominee, Slaw, is a must read blog with top-notch contributors. The topics covered by the blog are multitudinous and the cooperative nature of the blog is a great example of how well collective blogging can work.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Depreciation A Possible Ground in Opposition Proceedings
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
In Parmalat Canada Inc. v. Sysco Corporation, the Federal Court allowed an application by Parmalat to set aside the Trade-mark Opposition Board’s refusal to amend a statement of opposition to include an additional ground of opposition. Sysco had filed an application on May 3, 2002 to register the trademark, BLACK DIAMOND, in association with various kitchen utensils, chef’s apparel, cooking pots and frying pans. Parmalat had registered various BLACK DIAMOND trademarks in Canada for use since 1933 in association with cheese and other food products. Parmalat originally filed its statement of opposition on May 4, 2004 based on a number of grounds, including confusion with Parmalat’s family of BLACK DIAMOND trademarks.
On June 2, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Maison Fondee en 1772 v. Boutiques Cliquot Ltée which discussed the depreciation of goodwill contrary to section 22 of the Trade-marks Act. Subsequent to the Veuve Clicquot decision Parmalat sought to amend its statement of opposition to include depreciation of the value of the goodwill attached to its registered trademark, BLACK DIAMOND, as an additional ground of opposition. The Trade-mark Opposition Board dismissed Parmalat’s application for leave to amend on the basis that the inquiry on the issue of depreciation of goodwill was not to be decided in an opposition hearing; instead, the Federal Court had jurisdiction to decide the issue.
Posted in Case Law, Trade-mark Oppositions | Comments Off
Copyright? Wrong! Oshawa Councillor Misses the “Mark”
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
An Oshawa, Ontario Regional Councillor, Robert Lutczyk, recently made a brazen attempt to claim copyright in the name “University of Ontario Institute of Technology”. Lutczyk registered copyright in the name of the University and then tried to use his registration to prevent the publication "Oshawa This Week" from using the name in an article, threatening legal action if they did not comply. Lutczyk’s attempt to assert copyright appears wrong on several points.
First, there is no copyright in a name. Copyright in Canada is governed by the Copyright Act and arises in literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works. A name, without more, does not fall under the definition of a work.
Posted in Branding, Famous Marks, Protection & Enforcement, Registration | Comments Off