Major Changes to Canada's IP Regime - Protecting and Enforcing Copyright and Trademarks Internationally

Event date
2 December 2014
Event time
11:30
Oxford week
Venue
Faculty of Law
Speaker(s)
Rob McDonald QC

Rob McDonald is a partner with Dentons Canada, is a lead of Denton’s Canadian and Global Intellectual Property Group and teaches the IP Law course at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. His clients include global entertainment companies and global brands including Disney and Starbucks. He will speak on some recent legislative and judicial changes to Canada’s IP regime in both Copyright and Trademarks, and discuss the international protection and enforcement of valuable brands and images. The discussion will involve actual infringement matters involving counterfeit goods and the use of confusing trademarks and logos in various industries.

The Copyright Modernization Act (in force as of November 2012) and the Combating Counterfeit Products Act (currently before Parliament and not yet law), are two Acts which attempt to bring Canada’s legislative regime into conformance with various international IP treaties as well as to modernize and update certain aspects of the law.  In particular, the Copyright Modernization Act introduces provisions dealing with Internet Service Provider liability, circumventing Technological Protection Measures, private uses, new exceptions for education, parody and satire, and new damages provisions.  It also contains a user generated content provision (commonly known as the “Youtube clause) that is the first of its kind in the world. The Combating Counterfeit Products Act, proposes to grant greater powers to our border and customs officials to prevent unlawful importation, exportation and distribution of counterfeit goods. Also, the Budget Implementation Bill (Bill C-31) received Royal Assent on June 19, 2014, and changes decades of jurisprudence in Canada by eliminating the requirement for “use” of a trademark in Canada as a condition for registration. Rob will discuss all of this new legislation and the effect that these changes will have on international copyright and trademark owners, and will offer opinions as to what steps UK businesses can take to utilize the new laws effectively.

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