Articles

Overview of IP Rights: What Your Business Needs to Know

Author: Marsha Simone Cadogan One of the important dynamics of a business strategy involves taking stock of the proprietary interests in the business and ensuring that adequate legal safeguards are in place to sustain its worth. This is where using intellectual property rights law (IP) and strategy can make a difference. Read on for a summary of the main types of IP and how they can be used to...

Unfair Competition: Why Passing Off Claims Fail

Author: Marsha Simone Cadogan, MSC Intellectual Property & Technology Law (MSC IPTL) Without proof of goodwill or reputation, passing off claims will not be successful. Absent this essential component of the passing off test, the other elements (misrepresentation to the public and actual or potential damage) bear little or no significance to claimants in passing off cases. This was...

Relationships, issues around intellectual property, emerging technologies

This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily, (www.thelawyersdaily.ca) a division of LexisNexis Canada.” Author: Marsha S. Cadogan | 3 min read What is the relationship between emerging technologies and intellectual property (IP)? Innovations in emerging technologies often bring new products to market, create differentiated services, or change how consumers interact with...

IP & Franchising (Part I)

MSC Intellectual Property & Technology Law | 5 min read A franchise agreement is a specific type of contractual relationship in which one entity (the franchisor) allows other firms (the franchisee) to use its business model as the basis for operating their business. The franchise model may relate to the use of a manufacturing process, a right to distribute products, or to use a specific...

Blockchain & Intellectual Property: Three Intersections for 2020

Author: Marsha S. Cadogan, MSC Intellectual Property and Technology Law 2020 is bound to be a year marked with the development of greater and more sophisticated technologies. This will likely be the same narrative in the blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DTL) space. What are the most relevant relationships between intellectual property and blockchain and DTL? See three relevant...

Royalties in Online Copyright Content

Author: Marsha Simone Cadogan, Barrister & Solicitor, MSC IPTL The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has ruled that placing copyrighted works on the internet is not a separate compensable activity that royalties can be applied to. The Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) and Music Canada appealed to the SCC after the Federal Court of Appeal held that the...

Trade Secrets Strategy

Author: Marsha Simone Cadogan, MSC IPTL | 2 min read| Trade secrets relate to information in your business that is crucial to your success because it has economic value and is a secret, kept confidential, and disclosed only to a few persons. Protecting this information can be vital to the continued relevance of your products and services in consumer markets. An effective trade secrets strategy...

An Explainer on Cross Border Personal Data Transfers: Helpful Measures for Businesses

An Explainer on Cross Border Personal Data Transfers: Helpful Measures for Businesses Author: Marsha Simone Cadogan | MSC Intellectual Property & Technology Law (MSC IPTL) Your personal information is important – it likely includes private and confidential data that should not be widely known or shared with others. In recent years, data breaches have become more common, compromising...

Certification Marks: Ownership and Issues

Author: Marsha Simone Cadogan - Principal | MSC IPTL Certification marks are trademarks that indicate to consumers that a product or service uses defined standards to distinguish its brand from that of others. While a mark may be registered as a trademark, not all marks can be registered as certification marks. This note provides general information on how certification marks are protected in...

NFTs and Copyright Law: International Law Dimensions

On August 6th, MSC Intellectual Property & Technology Law will host a virtual workshop on non-fungible tokens and copyright interests from an international law perspective. Speaker: Marsha S. Cadogan, PhD, Principal - MSC Intellectual Property & Technology Law Time: 11:30am - 12:30PM ET To register: Join the Discussion.

Trademark Rights and Domain Name Disputes: Reminders from Parsons

Author: Marsha Simone Cadogan | MSCPTL | 5 min read A recently decided Federal Court case (Parsons Inc. v Khan) brings to mind how important it is for businesses to monitor their trademarks in digital platforms, especially as it relates to cyber squatting. This note draws on the decision in Parsons to discuss the increasingly important relationship between domain names and trademark rights and...

GIs & Basmati Rice: Relevance to Canadian Food Producers

Author: Marsha S. Cadogan | 5 min read This article was originally published by the Lawyers Daily. Basmati rice has a significant consumer base throughout many parts of the world. The rice is known for its distinct taste and appearance, primarily owing to its terroir (specifically the soil, climatic and valley conditions under which it is grown). After years of legal battle to safeguard the...