Patents Archives

AI Inventors? Thaler Commissioner Decision

There is an aphorism, ““If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” But, according to another aphorism ““Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Well, when it comes to Stephen Thaler, the latter aphorism appears apt. Try as he might, he has consistently lost court cases around the world which rejected his contention that content generated entirely by an artificial intelligence system can be protected either by copyrights or patents. This includes losses before the U.S.…

View Post

Clarifying what the TPP IP provisions mean in Canada for the Innovative Life Sciences Sector

This is a guest blog post by Declan Hamill, Chief of Staff and Vice President, Legal Affairs, Innovative Medicines Canada.

Innovative Medicines Canada is the association of leading innovative pharmaceutical companies dedicated to improving the health of Canadians through the discovery and development of new medicines and vaccines. Our community represents the men and women working for more than 50 member companies which invest more than $1 billion in research and development (R&D) each year to fuel Canada’s knowledge-based economy, contributing over $3 billion to the Canadian economy.…

View Post

Patents

Merck awarded blockbuster damages for Apotex’s patent infringement

In December 2010, the pharmaceutical giant Merck won a major patent case against the generic pharmaceutical maker Apotox. In Merck & Co v Apotex Inc, 2010 FC 1265, 91 CPR (4th) aff’d 2011 FCA 363, 102 CPR (4th) 321, Justice Snider found Merck’s ‘380 patent for the drug lovastatin, a statin sold in Canada under the trade name MEVACOR, was valid and had been infringed. In a decision made public yesterday after a trial to determine damages, Merck & Co v Apotex Inc 2013 FC 751, Justice Snider ordered Apotex to pay Merck more than $180 million dollars in damages and interest.…

View Post

Patents

Viagra patent declared invalid by Supreme Court of Canada

In an important case released today, Teva Canada Ltd. v. Pfizer Canada Inc. 2012 SCC 60, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Pfizer’s patent for its popular drug Viagra used for treating erectile dysfunction was void for not meeting the disclosure requirements in s. 27(3) of the Patent Act.

To satisfy the disclosure requirements, the inventor must disclose his/her invention and describe how it works in the specification. In addition, the inventor must disclose in the specification how “to make the same successful use of the invention as the inventor could at the time of his application”.…

View Post

Social media, intellectual property and the workplace, is there a gap in the law?

I gave a speech earlier today at the Law Society Special Lectures on Employment Law and the New Workplace in the Social Media Age. My talk was entitled, “Is There a Gap in Intellectual Property Law?” My slides are shown below.

Sookman law society IP in social media

View more presentations from bsookman

…

View Post

Developments in Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law (2010-2011)

Here are the slides used in my presentation to the Toronto Computer Lawyers Group earlier today, The Year in Review: Developments in Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law (2010-2011). It covers significant developements since my talk last spring.

The slides include a summary of the following cases and statutory materials:

Privacy:

Cite Cards Canada Inc. v. Pleasance, 2011 ONCA 3

Leon’s Furniture Limited v. Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2011 ABCA 94

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 2010 FC 736

Nammo v.…

View Post