On July 29th, 2011, the U.S. federal appeals court reaffirmed, in effect, the right to patent genes, if in limited cases. The court’s ruling overturned a lower court decision that voided a patent held by Myriad Genetics on BRCA1 and BRCA2, two human genes used in determining the risk that women face with breast and ovarian cancer. Much hinges on the outcome of such patent challenges, given the thousands of genes that have been patented in the United States and elsewhere.

The appeals court accepted that the chemical structure of DNA, once removed from a cell was “markedly different” from . . . [more]

On Tuesday, September 13, 2011 the Opening of the Courts was held in Toronto, preceded by an interfaith service at Church of the Holy Trinity. The service consisted of a fascinating mix of a number of readings, including a South African anti-Apartheid song (and dance). I couldn’t help but think that this would have been impossible a couple decades ago.

But attendees were surprised by a protest outside of the church as soon as the services completed. A video of the protest is available here, with one of the speakers saying,

We’re going to be here every single year.

In war, truth is the first casualty.

For those who need to drive home, to their new hires, that litigation is usually not about truth but victory. When and if you read this case, ask yourself why the defence wanted the ruling that Ontario courts did not have jurisdiction. The motion judge accepted the argument. The ONCA reversed.

Dundee Precious Metals Inc. v. Marsland, 2011 ONCA 594 is a conflicts case in which the motion judge’s underlying no jurisdiction conclusion caused the panel to write, laconically,

 [11] The motion judge’s assessment and application of real and substantial connection test

Looks like litbots and databases will soon be providing routine updates of structured information to human readers via newspapers and news websites in the form of machine written articles. Narrative Science is the company behind it.

Pretty soon, such litbots will be conversing with my own personal litbots, and negotiating the purchase of routine items I need and can afford, according to the budget I set and the priorities I identify. The prospect of the online grocery appears again: I need milk, eggs, and in-season fruit every Tuesday, for delivery Wed. afternoon. The grocery’s litbot can check my calendar . . . [more]

The Fifteenth Annual Canadian Information Technology Law Association (“IT.CAN”) Conference will be held in Toronto on October 27-28, 2011. For the full conference brochure including registration details, visit the IT.CAN website. (I’ve also included it here on Slaw.)

If you have any questions about the program contact Lisa Ptack, IT.CAN Executive Director, at lisa.ptack@rogers.com. This program is accredited by provincial Law Societies for CLE credit. . . . [more]

Pitch is important in music. Maybe that’s why the sound of the orchestra tuning up was George III’s favourite part of the concert. And while it’s fairly easy for musicians to come together over the oboe’s A, singers can’t “set it and forget it.” Vocal intonation is a version of eye-hand coordination, although in this case it’s the ear-larynx combo that’s key. Of course, there are those who have absolute (or “perfect”) pitch and can simply know which note is being played or sung with the same ease that you exhibit when you know without thought that you’re looking at . . . [more]

Haiti is located in the West Indies, on the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. Its official languages are French and Haitian Créole. It shares a border with the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic. It lies near Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the state of Florida in the U.S. It has a rich cultural heritage. However, researching Haiti’s law can be frustrating. Haiti is in the Caribbean, but works on Caribbean law mostly focus on English-speaking, Commonwealth Caribbean countries. Works on West Indian law tend to focus on the British West Indies. And works on Latin American . . . [more]

This is a post in a series to appear occasionally, setting out some articles, videos, podcasts and the like that contributors at Slaw are enjoying and that you might find interesting. The articles tend to be longer than blog posts and shorter than books, just right for that stolen half hour on the weekend. It’s also likely that most of them won’t be about law — just right for etc.

Please let us have your recommendations for what we and our readers might like.

A short follow-up to a previous Slaw post on e- passports and privacy. Although there is no exact date, the Canadian government has announced that they will finally begin issuing the long awaited ePassports by the end of 2012.

The e-passport will now be valid for a period of 10 years and contain a data chip inside it that can be read electronically to provide border officials with the bearer’s information, holographic images and a hidden photo of the bearer that can only be viewed under ultraviolet light. Public ePassport readers will be installed in Passport Canada’s 34 . . . [more]

The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Heads of Prosecutions Committee today released its new report on wrongful convictions entitled The Path to Justice: Preventing Wrongful Convictions.

It was written by a committee of senior prosecutors and police officers and is follow-up to a 2005 report entitled “Prevention of Miscarriages of Justice”:

“The format of this update mirrors the original report: it provides a summary of developments in the law and reports on efforts to implement the 2005 recommendations. Those recommendations are re-examined in light of events over the past six years and, where appropriate, modifications are suggested. It also highlights international developments since

Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell have an excellent piece in Law Practice Today on 10 non-marketing uses of social media; very basic items such as ‘reconnecting’, or ‘learning a new subject matter’. It’s well worth a look.

One recurring thought that hit me as I read it, though, was that for each and every suggestion (whether intended or not) there was excellent marketing value being delivered. Marketing should never be considered simply running around flogging articles, or speaking like we’re reading from an advertising script. If those are the only activities someone takes part in online, you might . . . [more]

Mirela and her staff at NYU have kindly uploaded my updates to my Researching Canadian Law Guide on their GlobaLex website.

Updated guides have also been added for Bhutan, Latin America, Kenya and Sweden.

I regularly use these foreign law guides (along with the international law guides) when doing international and foreign legal research. . . . [more]