Articles 2021

Mobile applications have become synonymous with organizations’ outreach initiatives. The recent joint investigation by federal and provincial privacy authorities into the Tim Hortons app emphasizes the need for companies to consider Canadian privacy laws when designing their apps.

Digital identification (“Digital ID”) is evolving the way we verify ourselves in the online world. Following other jurisdictions, Canada is currently adopting its own Digital ID strategy, with provinces like Ontario working on policies in the space. However, Digital ID may be accompanied by novel challenges that legal professionals will have to address in future practice. This article serves as a primer for legal professionals to learn more about Ontario’s Digital ID initiative.

Dubbed as the Instagram “it” bag in 2016, Cult Gaia’s “Ark” bag design was recently refused trademark registration in the United States following the brand’s five-year battle to obtain registration for the design of its bag.

The 2022 Federal Budget was recently tabled in Ottawa on April 7, 2022. The budget focuses on a diverse range of initiatives, including several intellectual property related matters. Among the given topics, the budget looks at tax incentives to encourage innovation in Canadian businesses and legislative amendments to both the Copyright Act and the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents Act.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) continue to be a major topic in the current technology law landscape. Even today, there is continued debate on how best to utilize NFTs to achieve the most benefit for oneself. This discussion has continued with experts, Richard Lehv, Alexandra Giannopoulou, and Andres Guadamuz, who spoke about the different aspects of NFTs at their presentations for the Global Online Thesis Topic Meetings (“GOTTMs”) on April 5, 2022.

Avery Lee is a talented young IP lawyer and the very first Trademark Agent to file a trademark application for a hologram in Canada. While he recognizes that his hologram is not as impressive as the larger scale holograms displayed by projectors or viewed with special glasses, he hopes that his trademark application can serve as a building block for other applicants and Trademark Agents.