Articles 2021

For the past few years, the copyright infringement saga involving Rallysport Direct LLC (Rallysport) and its former wholesaler has made its way through the courts. The Federal Court found that there was copyright infringement and awarded Rallysport both statutory and punitive damages. The wholesaler recently appealed this finding, but, the appeal was dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal. The question remains: is this the end or another step on the way to the Supreme Court of Canada?

The Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) has been a strong presence in Ontario’s entrepreneurial space for the last few decades. During this time, it has continued its objective to sponsor research and commercialization between industry and academia to exploit made-in-Ontario technologies. This work has led to several Ontario success stories and increased recognition for the importance of intellectual property to the economic growth of the Province.

The market for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has exploded over the last year. Although this is an exciting new area for business, it is riddled with potential legal issues that must be properly understood by those who wish to operate in the marketplace. One of these issues pertains to the application of copyright laws to NFTs. Depending on the copyright ownership structure surrounding a given NFT, its use in the course of business may open the door to lawsuits rather than profits.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is an independent agency of the Government of Canada that contributes to the safety and soundness of the Canadian Financial system by regulating and monitoring federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs). Recently, OSFI released updated requirements regarding the cyber security incident reporting requirements expected of FRFIs.

Although there are no current signs of Bill C-11 (Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2020) being revived in Parliament, the re-election of the Liberal government suggests that it is only a matter of time before it is reintroduced in some form. To prepare for this event, this commentary analyzes one of the more controversial aspects of Bill C-11: its obligations for the disposal of personal information.

The question of whether artificial intelligence can be an inventor for the purposes of obtaining a patent has come to a forefront in several jurisdictions around the world. With Canada's official stance on the matter still open for debate, it is important to assess these foreign decisions to predict the future of our patent landscape.