On December 17, 2020, IPIC submitted a White Paper to Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair concerning the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) Request for Assistance (RFA) program. The White Paper, drafted by the Anti-Counterfeiting Committee, discusses the successes and limitations of the RFA program, and recommends solutions to make the program more responsive and less burdensome for all stakeholders, including government agencies, brand owners, and individual border officers.

As brand owners continue to navigate online space, bad actors aim to capitalize on the ability to manipulate platforms, algorithms, and consumers through deceptive practices. Online platforms continue to implement procedures and tools for rights owners to proactively combat the sale of infringing and counterfeit merchandise. These tools can assist, however, there are certain activities and trends that are not as easily detected as a hashtag or stock image. Bad actors are creating new strategies to promote and sell counterfeit goods while strategically evading enforcement. There are a handful of new trends to be mindful of as consumers continue to spend a significant amount of their time scrolling and shopping online.

As intellectual property practitioners, it is sometimes a challenge to explain and raise awareness of the value of intellectual property to business, governments and the public at large, as well as the vital role that IPIC plays in Canada. IPIC’s Public Awareness Committee is playing a crucial role in meeting this challenge. We asked Georgina Starkman Danzig (Chair) and Dane Smith (Vice Chair) to tell us about the role played by this important committee.

Marked annually on March 8th International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Participation is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements and rally for women's equality. This year's campaign theme is 'Choose To Challenge,' as a challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change. In celebration of this day IPIC has introduced its IWD Spotlight Series featuring some of the many incredible women within the IP profession.

Marked annually on March 8th International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Participation is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements and rally for women's equality. This year's campaign theme is 'Choose To Challenge,' as a challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change. In celebration of this day IPIC has introduced its IWD Spotlight Series featuring some of the many incredible women within the IP profession.

Marked annually on March 8th International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Participation is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements and rally for women's equality. This year's campaign theme is 'Choose To Challenge,' as a challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change. In celebration of this day IPIC has introduced its IWD Spotlight Series featuring some of the many incredible women within the IP profession.

Marked annually on March 8th International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Participation is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements and rally for women's equality. This year's campaign theme is 'Choose To Challenge,' as a challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change. In celebration of this day IPIC has introduced its IWD Spotlight Series featuring some of the many incredible women within the IP profession.

The relationship between intellectual property law and the protection of Indigenous knowledge and cultural expressions is a complex subject that has been receiving increasing attention over the last few years. This is reflected in, for example, the Federal Government’s 2018 Intellectual Property Strategy which includes initiatives that reflect the needs and interests of Indigenous peoples. IPIC’s Indigenous IP Committee is playing a role in Canada to raise awareness of these challenging issues. We reached out to Paula Clancy, the Chair of the committee, to learn about the work of the committee.

Good news for diagnostics, less so for computer-implemented inventions. On Nov. 3, 2020, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) released revised guidelines1 and examples2 for the assessment of patentable subject matter in Canada. Released without prior consultation, the guidelines explain how claims to computer-implemented inventions, medical diagnostic methods, and medical “uses” are to be examined in light of recent jurisprudence from the Federal Court of Canada (FCC).

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the subject of human fascination and awe (and Hollywood movies) for many years. Who can forget the iconic scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey when the intelligent computer HAL 9000 says “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that,” and refuses to allow Dave to re-enter the pod bay doors because HAL knows that Dave is planning to disconnect it (him?). AI is busy learning, growing, computing, and in some cases inventing, all while we sleep.

On August 21, 2020, the Federal Court of Canada (FCC) handed down its ruling in the appeal of Yves Choueifaty against the rejection of Canadian Patent Application No. 2,635,393 for a “Method and Systems for Provision of Anti-Benchmark Portfolio” by the Commissioner of Patents. Mr. Choueifaty was the named inventor of a computer implementation of a new method of selecting and weighing investment portfolio assets that minimize risk without impacting returns. During examination, he amended the claims twice to address the Examiner’s and Patent Appeal Board’s finding that the subject matter of the claims fell outside the definition of “invention” in the Patent Act.

The new Canadian Patent Rules came into effect on October 30, 2019 with the intent to make Canada compliant with its international treaty obligations by harmonizing and streamlining the administrative procedures for patents and patent applications. The changes to the Rules have resulted in both patent prosecutors and intellectual property owners adapting and developing new prosecution strategies.