Insights

Hand over that domain!

As the e-commerce space becomes ever more crowded, disputes over confusingly similar domain names are becoming ever more common. One issue that has been particularly vexing is whether a court can order…

The importance of policing your trademarks: The need to “Strike Back”

I was recently asked by the Toronto Star to comment on Lucasfilm’s decision to serve a charitable organization called Newmindspace with a cease and desist letter demanding that they stop all use…

The ABC’s of Section 6(5)(a)-(e): Back to basics on trademark confusion

In its recent decision in Home Hardware Stores Limited v Benjamin Moore & Co Limited, 2015 FC 1344, the Federal Court has taken us back to the basics of assessing the likelihood…

IP response to Online Brand and Reputation Attacks

Online threats to commercial reputations are on the rise. These include “attack sites”, “gripe sites” (e.g. RipOff Report), cyber-libel via social media, domain name high-jacking, meta tag high-jacking and defamatory email campaigns….

Initial interest confusion in Canada: recent developments

Back in April, we wrote about the history in Canada of a U.S. trademark infringement doctrine called “initial interest confusion” – see “A brief history of passing off, websites and “initial interest…

Combating Online Infringement and Disparagement of Your Trademark

You’ve spent years building goodwill in your business and translating it into your brand name. You’ve registered your brand name as a trademark which you use as the domain name for your…

Richard Prince, fair dealing and “owning” your content on Instagram

U.S. artist, Richard Prince, has generated considerable mainstream publicity by appropriating images he found on Instagram and featuring them in his “New Portraits” collection. A number of copyright lawyers in the U.S….

A brief history of passing off, websites and “initial interest confusion” in Canada

The Federal Court’s recent decision in Red Label Vacations Inc. (redtag.ca) v. 411 Travel Buys Limited (411travelbuys.ca), 2015 FC 19 is the latest in a series of Canadian cases to address the tort of passing…

Use it or lose it: clearing dead wood from the Trademarks Register

What can you do when you want to use or register a trademark that someone else has already registered but who, you suspect, is no longer using it? This was the issue…

Register your trademarks – There’s never been a better time to do so

There’s never been a better time than now to register your trademarks, like the name of your business, your logo or the brand names for your products or services.In Canada, registering a…

Internet Memes, Catch Phrases and IP Rights

Take a photo, add a header and footer and voilà, you have yourself a meme. It is often really that simple. If your meme happens to be culturally relevant and creative or…

Canada’s New “Notice and Notice” Copyright Enforcement Regime

By January of 2015, Canada will have implemented the final pieces of the Copyright Modernization Act – Canada’s answer to bringing copyright laws in line with the digital age. This has been an ongoing…

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