I appeared yesterday before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology for a hearing on Bill C-8, the anti-counterfeiting bill that has been placed on the legislative fast-track by the government. The panel also featured representatives from the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network, the Canadian Standards Association, and the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. The hearing was cut short by a vote in the House of Commons, but there was still an opportunity for a ten minute opening presentation and to address a few questions from the committee members. My prepared remarks are posted below. Given time constraints and the comments of the other panel members, there were some adjustments (I omitted the first section on the scope of counterfeiting and noted that fellow panel members proposed the precise amendments I was discussing).
News
NGN Drops File Sharing Lawsuit Involving Distributel Subscribers
The Wire Report reports (sub req) that NGN Prima Productions has dropped its copyright lawsuit over alleged file sharing by subscribers of Distributel, an independent ISP operating in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. Distributel fought back against a motion to disclose the names of its subscribers earlier this year, […]
CRTC Launches Wireless Roaming Fee Task Force
The Globe reports that the CRTC has escalated its investigation into wireless roaming fees by creating a special task force to examine the issue and present regulatory options for consideration by the Commission next month.
Federal Court Orders Bell to Pay $20,000 in Damages Over Privacy Violation
The Federal Court of Canada has ordered Bell TV to pay $20,000 in damages (plus an additional $1,000 in legal fees) for violating the privacy rights of a Nova Scotia satellite tv customer. The case arose when Bell TV surreptitiously obtained permission to run a credit check by including it […]
Fake Feta: Digging into the Intellectual Property Details of the Canada – EU Trade Agreement
The Canadian government released a technical summary of the Canada – EU trade agreement (CETA) yesterday, which provides further details on the draft agreement (tabling a summary of the treaty is a strange exercise and the government needs to release the full text). Within the summary, there are some further details on the intellectual property issues that were not highlighted in the initial releases.
First, while the emphasis on cheese and the dairy industry has focused on increasing the amount of European cheese that can be sold in Canada, the agreement also contains some notable new restrictions on the sale and marketing of cheese in Canada more generally. Under the umbrella of geographic indications protections, Canada has agreed to new limitations on several well known cheeses including asiago, feta, fontina, gorgonzola, and munster. Existing Canadian producers can continue to use these names, but that’s it – any future cheese makers will need to qualify the title by using words such as “imitation” or “style”. This is a significant concession that effectively gives rights to existing producers on what many consumers would view as generic names.
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