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Monsanto V. Schmeiser 20 Years Later: The Answer Wasn’t Blowin’ in the Wind By L.E. Trent Horne Aug 05, 2020 Intellectual property lawyers have the most interesting bookshelves in their offices; we tend to ... Intellectual property lawyers have the most interesting bookshelves in their offices; we tend to keep souvenirs of the various cases we work on. Over the years, my bookshelf has come to include things like skin care products, parts for cars and fireplaces, architectural mouldings, ...

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Seismic Shift in Privacy Risks and Obligations By Paige Backman and Corey Fletcher Jul 30, 2020 As the world continues to focus on the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and plan for an eventual recov... As the world continues to focus on the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and plan for an eventual recovery, many have noticed a seismic shift in Canada’s privacy laws. In addition to the Competition Bureau of Canada stepping in to impose a $9.5 million penalty based on alleged false and misleading priv...

Posted in: Privacy | Data Security/Privacy

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Competition Bureau Brings Big Stick to Privacy Claims – $9.5 Million Penalty for Privacy Claim By Paige Backman Jul 07, 2020 The Competition Bureau recently concluded that Facebook Inc. made false or misleading claims to t... The Competition Bureau recently concluded that Facebook Inc. made false or misleading claims to the public about the privacy of Canadians’ personal information on Facebook and Messenger. As a result, Facebook Inc. is required to pay a $9 million penalty, plus an ...

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Aird & Berlis | Aird & McBurney Recognized in IAM Patent 1000 Jun 16, 2020 Aird & Berlis and Aird & McBurney are proud to be recognized in the Canada section of IAM Patent ... Aird & Berlis and Aird & McBurney are proud to be recognized in the Canada section of IAM Patent 1000: The World's Leading Patent Professionals 2020.

Posted in: Data Security/Privacy | Privacy

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Maintaining Employee Mental Health through Digital Technologies By Lynn Tay and Lorway Gosse May 08, 2020 The rapid advancement of technology has resulted in a movement towards all kinds of digital tools... The rapid advancement of technology has resulted in a movement towards all kinds of digital tools. One tool that a growing number of employers are embracing is telemedicine. By leveraging technology, employers provide employees with access to professional advice in a convenient and cost-effect...

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Smart Devices at Home and Maintaining Confidentiality Are Your Smart Devices Listening to Your Confidential Discussions? How to Secure Your Devices and Protect Your Data By Paige Backman and Andy Nguyen May 01, 2020 Having employees work from home can offer benefits and challenges to both organizations and emplo... Having employees work from home can offer benefits and challenges to both organizations and employees. Confidential conversations being recorded should not be an added risk. Ensure your employees and consultants are aware of the risks and inform them of some of the simple ways to reduce that risk.

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Aird & Berlis Partners Recognized as IP STARS by Managing Intellectual Property Apr 30, 2020 Three members of the Aird & Berlis Intellectual Property Group have been recognized in the 2020 edition of IP STARS, Managing Intellectual Property’s guide to the world's leading IP firms and practitioners.

Posted in: Intellectual Property | Trademarks

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Federal Court Grants Interlocutory Injunction Restraining Cease and Desist Letters By L.E. Trent Horne Apr 29, 2020 Based on a statutory requirement that prohibits making false and misleading statements about a co... Based on a statutory requirement that prohibits making false and misleading statements about a competitor, a Federal Court judge granted an interlocutory injunction restraining further distribution of cease and desist letters.

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Digital Ethics By Donald B. Johnston Apr 20, 2020 Ethics generally are all about how we treat one another, relate to one another and resolve confli... Ethics generally are all about how we treat one another, relate to one another and resolve conflicts with one another. They are different from morals, which can vary from society to society. Ethics go deeper, to the universal human level. Digital ethics, therefore, are about how we treat one anot...

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Dark Horse Comes in Just at the Wire! A Music Copyright Analysis By Lawrence Veregin Apr 09, 2020 On March 16, 2020, the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted judgment in Gray v. Perry against Marcus Gray (a.k.a. Flame), dismissing his claim against Katy Perry for copyright infringement of his song Joyful Noise (about a million YouTube views) by Katy ...

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Retrograde in Taurus: Ninth Circuit Upholds Judgment That Stairway to Heaven Did Not Infringe Taurus By Lawrence Veregin and Ken Clark Apr 07, 2020 In the highly-anticipated decision of Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a jury decision that Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven did not infringe Spirit’s Taurus.

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Cyberattacks and Cybersecurity Measures Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic By Paige Backman and David Mba Mar 27, 2020 As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, cyber criminals are finding ways to capitalize on the growing levels of concern and fear accompanying the pandemic.

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Geolocation and the Fight Against COVID-19 Could the Emergencies Act Overrule Privacy Law Protections for Cellphone Location Data? By Paige Backman and Stephanie D’Amico Mar 27, 2020 While COVID-19 is a “novel” coronavirus, the tension it stokes between public welfare and personal freedom is anything but new. Today, the battle is between public health and personal privacy.

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Beware of Preying Cyber Criminals During the COVID-19 Pandemic By Paige Backman Mar 26, 2020 Cyber criminals are parasitic, so the fact that they are using COVID-19 as a backdrop to increase their attacks should not be a surprise.

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The Supreme Court of Canada’s Clarifies Standard of Review for Trademark Appeals By Lawrence Veregin and Ken Clark Feb 28, 2020 The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 revised the test for determining the standard of review for courts reviewing decisions from administrative bodies.

Posted in: Court Decision | Privacy

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Ontario Recognizes False Light Tort of Invasion of Privacy By Paige Backman Feb 24, 2020 Hidden in the text of a strongly-worded family law case, Yenovkian v. Gulian, 2019 ONSC 7279, a new and timely tort based on invasion of privacy was recognized – Publicity Placing Person in False Light.

Posted in: Artificial Intelligence

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Boosting the Rate of Technology Adoption By Aaron Baer Feb 21, 2020 For many observers of the legal industry, the seemingly glacial change of innovation can be astounding. But the reality is that lawyers (and law firms) are often resistant to change.

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Aird & Berlis Trademark Practice and Practitioners Recognized in WTR 1000 By Timothy M. Lowman, L.E. Trent Horne, R. Grant Cansfield and Ken Clark Feb 14, 2020 Aird & Berlis is proud to be recognized in the 2020 edition of World Trademark Review 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals at both the firm and individual levels.

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No Netflix Tax? (Sort Of…): The Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel Releases Its Final Report By Stephen Zolf Feb 03, 2020 On January 29, the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel submitted its final report to the government on modernizing Canada’s communications legislation.

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Connected Vehicles By Donald B. Johnston Jan 27, 2020 It’s been a long time since I wrote anything on connected vehicles. I mentioned in my previous blog on connected vehicles that there is a tremendous amount of evidence that connected cars are bound to reduce accidents. There’s a great McKinsey report on the subject of accident reduction that is w...

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Federal Privacy Law – Is It About to Change: Part Deux? By Donald B. Johnston Jan 13, 2020 In my last blog, I speculated about whether privacy law is about to change and promised to write more about it. My speculation was sparked by the 2018-2019 Annual Report to Parliament made by the Office of the Privacy Commission. Here’s a bit more about this excellent report.

Posted in: Privacy

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Federal Privacy Law – Is It About to Change? By Donald B. Johnston Dec 19, 2019 The 2018-2019 Annual Report to Parliament of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner is interesting reading, and it shows that the OPC has been doing some deep thinking about the nature of privacy and has been looking around the world at the philosophies of privacy in other jurisdictions.

Posted in: CRTC | Telecommunications | Sports | Communications

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The Coach is in the Corner By Stephen Zolf Nov 12, 2019 The focus of this post is not on the content of Don Cherry’s recent Coach’s Corner rant, but rather on wherein lies editorial responsibility for such comments from the standpoint of media/content regulation.

Posted in: Intellectual Property | Patent

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Canada’s New Patent Regime: CIPO’s Eleventh Hour Guidance By Erica L. Lowthers, PhD, Kimberly A. McManus, PhD and Kitt Sinden, M.Sc. Oct 15, 2019 On October 30, 2019, the new Canadian Patent Act and Rules will come into force introducing substantive administrative procedural changes. On October 15, 2019, with only 15 days remaining before these changes come into force, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has released its revisions to...

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