Intellectual Property
Other IP Articles
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Clearing advertising claims seems like an easy process. All you have to do is look at the claims made in an advertisement and make sure they are true. However, in practice, this is not as easy as it looks. It often involves reviewing consumer studies, technical data and sometimes even constructing scientific tests. -
In October 1990 a consortium of six countries, comprised of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China and France, announced their intention to determine the sequence of the three billion chemical base pairs that comprise human DNA, and to identify the 35,000 genes in human DNA through a program called the Human Genome Project ("the Project"). -
In the age of instantaneous communication, it is getting harder and harder to keep anything a secret. Every company needs to safeguard its trade secrets and its business equipment as well. The only way to do this is through specific policies which address use and monitoring of business equipment and maintenance of company trade secrets. -
This article discusses the importance of domain-name brands in a company's marketing efforts, but warns they must be wisely managed to avoid a number of serious legal and practical perils. -
Many acquisitions, financings, and bankruptcies over the last 20 years consisted primarily of the transfer or security of intellectual property, mainly brands. Parties rely on their lawyers to make certain that they actually acquire the assets needed to run the business. -
Gregory Gilchrist is a partner in Townsend and Townsend and Crew's San Francisco office. He recently defended Levi Strauss successfully against a class action filed by garment workers in Saipan. -
According to recent statistics, more than 80 percent of information theft facing businesses in the United States occurs internally. This means that a company's greatest threat to loss of sensitive information comes from within - its own employees. -
That shocking moment from CBS' February 1st broadcast of the Super Bowl will not soon be forgotten. Reportedly the most "Tivo'd" moment in history - the baring of Janet Jackson's breast during the now infamous Half Time Show - the "incident" has drawn strong fire from lawmakers and consumers alike that will have repercussions on more than just network programming for the foreseeable future. -
The year 2004 was a noteworthy one in Canadian intellectual property ("IP") litigation, with several developments to report in respect to both law and practice. The majority of IP disputes continue to be litigated within Canada's federal court, which enjoys concurrent jurisdiction with the provincial superior courts over causes of action based on the federal Copyright Act, Patent Act and Trade-marks Act. The federal court is perceived as having superior experience in IP matters. The provincial courts maintain exclusive jurisdiction over causes of action that are founded solely on the common law. -
In 2003 a downturn in the Canadian independent production industry had arisen due to a convergence of a depressed sales market, an increased public appetite for reality programming, reduced government support and foreign competition for global production dollars. In 2004 this "perfect storm" raged on and grew stronger, and the year was also witness to further sweeping changes impacting the Canadian industry: (i) increasingly aggressive measures adopted by other jurisdictions to attract production dollars; (ii) the shuttering of Alliance Atlantis's production division, which was once the largest in Canada; and (iii) tougher requirements for qualifying under our co-production treaty with the U.K., our largest English-language co-producing partner.