New copyright bill
The federal government tabled extensive amendments to the Copyright Act yesterday. What’s good about the changes? If you’re copying things just once for non-commercial use, you’re probably going to be okay. But with one important caveat: you can’t use tools that bypass technological measures aimed at controlling access to a copyrighted work (or prevent it from being copied). Trying to get around […]
Use it or Lose it
If you are successful in having a trademark registered, you need to make sure that you continue to use the mark following registration. Any trademark owner who stops using their mark for a period of 3 years in absence of special circumstances risks losing their mark by having it expunged by the trademarks office. Keep in mind that any party can ask the trademarks office […]
Another obstacle to protecting trademarks online
Policing your trademark will become more difficult next month when a new policy protecting the individual identity of domain name holders comes into effect. In order to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) will no longer be providing personal information about individual registrants to the […]
Legal issues when using designers for your business website
Most small businesses aren’t going to have their own employees designing the company website. A small business owner is more likely to hire an outside designer or web developer. From the standpoint of protecting your intellectual property, there are two things to be aware of when having a website designed:
The designer owns the copyright in […]
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (dot-ca domain names)
Dispute resolution policies for domain names are vital today because anyone can buy up domain names even if they are no legitimate business interest in using them for commercial purposes (other than to resell domain names). What gives you legal entitlement to a domain name if someone else already owns it? The registered owner of […]
