CANADA


A NEW ERA IN CANADA Jonathan Roch MBM Intellectual Property Law LLP Copyright


One of the most signifi cant intellectual property developments in 2012 was the passing of the Copyright Modernization Act, amending the Copyright Act and the coming into force of most of these amendments. With no changes to the act in the last 15 years, modernisation was desperately needed to deal with some important changes to the technological landscape and to implement international treaty obligations.


T e new copyright regime claims to strike a balance between content producers’ rights and the ability of content users to deal with works in a fair manner. It also promises technological neutrality, meaning that the choice of the medium should not aff ect the user’s right. A few notable amendments are outlined below.


Anti-circumvention/technical protection measures (TPMs)


T ese are used to protect copyrighted material by preventing copying or limiting access. T e measures have been described by critics as the most restrictive in the world and were the most controversial of the amendments. Under the new provisions, the circumvention of TPMs for virtually any reason is a separate act of infringement and vitiates the fair character of any dealing that may have existed.


T e off ering of circumvention services and selling devices whose principal purpose is circumvention is also prohibited. T ere are only limited exceptions, such as for law enforcement, encryption research, network security, privacy, and unlocking mobile phones.


Broadened fair dealing exceptions


Scope was extended beyond research, private study, criticism, review and news reporting to include education, parody and satire. T e action must be considered ‘fair’.


46 World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2013 www.worldipreview.com Non-commercial use exceptions


Private reproduction has been expanded to include user-generated content for non-commercial purposes (referred to as the ‘YouTube exception’) and time shiſt ing, format shiſt ing, and the making of backup copies (copying your favourite TV programme to your iPad and saving a copy in the cloud).


Statutory damages


T e previously set amount of between CA$500 (US$496) and CA$20,000 (US$19,800) per act of infringement now applies only to commercial infringement. Damages for non-commercial infringement have been set between CA$100 and CA$5,000 for all acts included in a single proceeding.


T e scope of the new exceptions and measures will surely be tested in the courts beginning in 2013.


Industrial designs


Industrial designs became very topical around the world in 2012 thanks largely to a US jury awarding Apple US$1.05 billion in damages for Samsung’s infringement of Apple’s IP including design patents for the iPhone and iPad.


T e buzz continues in Canada with the Federal Court’s fi rst industrial design decision in the last two decades (Bodum USA Inc and PI Design AG v Trudeau Corporation (1889) Inc). Bodum alleged that Trudeau’s Duetto short and tall double-wall drinking glasses infringed two of its registered industrial designs.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119