Category Archives: Intellectual Property

February 1, 2020

What Laws Apply to Canadian Contests/Sweepstakes?

The following are some key legal tips for operating a successful and legal contest in Canada: CRIMINAL CODE Avoid the illegal lottery offences of the Criminal Code (e.g., include a bona fide “no purchase necessary” entry option and skill element, such as a time-limited, multiple-step mathematical question for potential … Read the rest of this entry »

January 10, 2017

Ten Key Issues That Can Arise in Canadian Contests and Practice Tips

CANADIAN CONTEST RULES/PRECEDENTS Do you need contest rules/precedents for a Canadian contest? We offer many types of Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents and forms (i.e., Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents to run common types of contests in Canada).  These include precedents for random draw contests (i.e., where … Read the rest of this entry »

June 2, 2016

Responding to Online Brand Attacks

Guest post by John Simpson (Shift Law) 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. Online brand and reputation attacks are … Read the rest of this entry »

August 29, 2014

IP Law: A Primer on Canadian Trademark Law

WHAT ARE TRADEMARKS? A mark (words, names, symbols, devices, sounds, smells, trade dress) used to distinguish the goods and services of one business from similar goods and services of all other businesses. In Canada, it is possible to register the non-functional shape of a product … Read the rest of this entry »

June 19, 2014

New Advertising Law Books: International Advertising Law: A Practical Global Guide

Globe Law and Business recently published a new international advertising law text entitled: International Advertising Law. Given that I work a lot in the Canadian advertising and marketing law areas, as well as the relative dearth of advertising and marketing law texts generally (both in … Read the rest of this entry »

June 11, 2014

New Publications: Macdonald-Laurier Institute Report Argues Canadian Internet Privacy Overshadows Competition, Other Key Objectives

A new Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) report caught my eye discussing whether Canada’s Internet privacy policies are overbroad and overshadow other important rights and principles, such as free expression, competition and economic growth: Finding the Balance on Digital Privacy: Toward a New Canadian Model for Data … Read the rest of this entry »

May 21, 2014

New Remarks by Canada’s Commissioner of Competition & Competition Compliance Video

Earlier today, the Competition Bureau posted new remarks by the Commissioner of Competition from the Canadian Bar Association’s 2014 Competition Law Spring Forum (one of two annual Canadian competition law conferences hosted by the CBA). See: Remarks by John Pecman, Commissioner of Competition.  These new … Read the rest of this entry »

April 20, 2014

Trade-marks: Guest Post: Proposed Changes to Canada’s Trademark Laws

Guest post by Andrei Mincov (Trademark Factory – reprinted with permission) As many of you know, the Federal Government recently introduced Bill C-31, the Economic Action Plan 2014, No. 1. Among the changes to almost 40 different pieces of legislation, it introduces many significant and … Read the rest of this entry »