Entrepreneur of the Year
Read about Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year - Piyush Patel is a doctor who invented a new way to treat allergies. Based in Mississauga, he and his wife started Allied Research International 20 years ago and recently invented an “environmental exposure chamber” to as an alternative treatment for allergies.
Parkdale market expansion
According to a story in the Ottawa Business Journal, there is support to expand the Parkdale Market next year by adding 18 new stalls. Along with the expansion, the City is establishing guidelines to support the sale of locally grown products at both the Parkdale Market and the Byward Market. Under the City’s ’Refreshing a Local Tradition’ program, vendors who are ‘resellers’ will pay about double the rent for their stalls as those who sell locally grown produce.
Business methods patent update
In a previous post, I mentioned the case of Re Bilski, a U.S. case that examines the degree to which a ’business method’ is the proper subject matter of a patent.
The October decision of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals makes clear that, in order for something to be patented, there must be a machine or apparatus involved in the process; and, there must be a transformation of an article into something different. Bilksi, which was a computer model, didn’t meet the test.
A U.S. patent law blog discusses the decision in light of earlier American caselaw on the test for business methods patents.
The decision is relevant to Canadian businesses who want to see the door opened here for business method patents.
CRTC releases decision on internet ‘throttling’
The CRTC has decided that Bell is allowed to control internet traffic by slowing down peer-to-peer applications that take up too much bandwidth (ie. downloading music, videos & using Skype).
Yesterday’s decision talks about Bell’s need to be able to manage internet traffic and reduce congestion. According to the evidence submitted to the Commission, peer-to-peer applications eat up a disproportionate amount of bandwidth. A key fact was that Bell restricts its own retail users as well as the service it provides to wholesalers. One would assume that if Bell’s traffic shaping measures gave preference or advantage to their retail customers, the decision may have been different.
As the issue of traffic shaping is of concern to many individuals and businesses in the online community, the CRTC has begun a more general review of internet traffic management practices.
Rescinding a franchise agreement
After you’ve decided to buy a franchise, what are your options for getting out of the deal? In Ontario, the legislation governing franchises, the Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000, provides that you’ve got 14 days in which to review the disclosure package (ie. financial information about the franchise), 60 days to get out of an agreement if you receive the disclosure package outside of this 14 day period, and 2 years if the disclosure package is never received at all. The legislation is a form of consumer protection for franchise buyers.
There were some unusual facts contained in an Ontario case decided this past summer. The franchise fee was paid, the disclosure package was then received, and the franchise agreement was signed approximately 6 months later. Two years after the agreement was signed, the franchisor tried to rescind the agreement.
The court held that the franchisee was not entitled to rescind the franchise agreement 2 years after signing it. The intent of the Act is to provide franchisees with timely disclosure and, in this case, the franchisee had 6 months in which to review the disclosure before deciding to proceed with the agreement.
In light of this decision, franchisees should bear in mind that they need to properly review disclosure documents in a timely way.
