INTRODUCTION 

There are many similarities between Canadian and American trade-mark practice, such as the overall steps in the application process. However, sometimes Canadian lawyers and clients make erroneous assumptions about US trade-mark laws that can have a significant impact on a trade-mark portfolio. Likewise, some US lawyers and clients incorrectly assume more similarity between US and Canadian laws than actually exists. This article gives an overview of some of the similarities and differences between Canadian and US trade-mark practice so brand owners can structure their affairs accordingly when managing a cross-border trade-mark portfolio.

SOME SIMILARITIES

1. “First to File” 

In . . . [more]

Fact, Fiction, and Case Citations

The time is approaching for work to begin on the new edition of the Canadian Guide to Legal Citation. The next edition could prove to be a breakthrough edition if the editors choose to end the fiction that print law reports still matter in legal research.

Just as the current edition took a major step forward by elimination of the heretofore sacrosanct, but totally useless period, in legal citation, the editors of the Guide to Canadian Legal Research are able to introduce reality into the practice of citing court decisions by a few simple . . . [more]

Like anyone who owns property along with a bank, I am always interested in interest rates.

Like anyone who would like to retire someday, I am always interested in interest rates.

Whether your primary concern with interest rates is from the borrowing or saving side of the equation, you may be interested in a Bank of Canada News Release about the publication schedule of interest rate announcements from Canada’s central bank.

Over the past several years, the Bank has streamlined its production processes for the Monetary Policy Report and gradually reduced the interval between the release of the rate decision

Out of touch in Hawaii

It was late October, 1992, and I was in Honolulu. I had been fortunate enough that year to have had the means to attend the annual meeting of Westpac, the western Pacific chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries. And so, on Saturday, October 24, I was at one of the social events of the conference, a luau, when I heard the news that the Toronto Blue Jays had won the World Series. It was easy to get that news, because several of the attendees had brought radios with them to the . . . [more]

[7] Recovery in negligence presupposes a relationship between the plaintiff and defendant based on the existence of a duty of care — a defendant who is at fault and a plaintiff who has been injured by that fault. If the defendant breaches this duty and thereby causes injury to the plaintiff, the law “corrects” the deficiency in the relationship by requiring the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for the injury suffered. This basis for recovery, sometimes referred to as “corrective justice”, assigns liability when the plaintiff and defendant are linked in a correlative relationship of doer and sufferer of the

safely, on Mars – the Mars Rover named “Curiosity”, that is – even if the Americans can’t spell.

Here’s explanations of how it was to work. It did.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/24364591/highlight/281462

http://www.space.com/16503-photos-mars-science-laboratory-curiosity-landing-guide.html

And, here’s a video stream of a collection of very relieved, very happy, people in blue shirts.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/24512027/highlight/282919

I doubt the missing “u” made a difference; however, those who once drove British Leyland vehicles may remember the crack about the best British workmanship going into the parts that fall off.

Fortunately, nothing fell off here.

  . . . [more]

Earlier this week, Tech Vibes reported that as worldwide Twitter subscribership crossed the half-billion mark, Canadian accounts were shown to account for 2% of that total, placing Canada at 8^th spot among all countries in total Twitter subscriber numbers. Canadians, of course, were also among the early adopters of Facebook and routinely top the rankings of ComScore and similar reports for such things as time spent online, so our collective Twitter presence is not actually all that surprising.

The surprise comes courtesy of some recently completed but not-yet-released research conducted by CanLII. Over a 6 week period in . . . [more]

Going by a variety of local names — British Columbia Day, Saskatchewan Day, Simcoe Day — the first Monday in August is a holiday in most of Canada. Folks in Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador don’t get a break, alas. And in Ontario, where I am, this isn’t a statutory holiday but, rather, a “civic holiday” that is up to municipalities to declare, seemingly all of which have done just that.

This is by way of saying that posting will be light today on Slaw. See you tomorrow, when regularly scheduled programming resumes. . . . [more]

Everyone loves a good story. Numerous studies show that people are more likely to learn and retain information told in the format of a story, probably a vestige from the primary means of relaying information through most of human history.

So what about the story describing the imminent doom of the legal profession as we know it? Mitch Kowalski, who joined the Slaw team this year, just released a book this year which tells this tall tale.

Avoiding Extinction: Reimagining Legal Services for the 21st Century relates a fictitious account of an innovative and visionary law firm, Bowen, Fang . . . [more]

From 3D-printed guns to hacking DNA for assasination via targeted synthetic pathogens, Marc Goodman is capable of throwing a scare into you. Is he a little short on solutions? Well, that would be telling. See his presentation at TED, and a followup interview. Also see his website for more. . . . [more]

A few weeks I posted the 1959 vision of the Law Library of the Future, that got my gears turning and I undertook a visioning exercise the result of which I present now, The 2012 Law Library of the Future: To-Day! . . . [more]

Online users who want a certain amount of anonymity will want to stay off Quora. Their new Views feature is set to track which users have looked at your posts. Some good coverage on the subject via Gigaom.

This type of insider knowledge has always been a bit of a balancing act. On one side, this information is incredibly valuable to the websites that collect it. Heck, it’s a core element of Linkedin’s paid account service — seeing who’s viewed your profile over the last X number of days. As a user, my interests are divided. It both . . . [more]