Robic Newsletter

Modernization of the industrial design regime

BY : Marc Gagnon

With Canada’s accession to the Hague Agreement on November 5, 2018, not only were the Industrial Design Act (“Act”) and the Industrial Design Regulations (“Regulations”) amended to allow this accession, but the government also took the opportunity to modernize the industrial design regime.

Here we briefly review the main changes for a national application, the main conditions for a Hague application and some aspects of the new regime by finally noting a strategic element to consider.

The Cannabis Act is here

BY : Jason Moscovici

Following months of speculation and at least one false start, the Canadian Cannabis Act (the “Act”) has finally come into force on October 17th 2018, ending the debate as to how and when the already established cannabis industry (therapeutic purposes) will pivot into an adult-use one. This pivot is often referred to as the second wave of legalization.

The devil is in the details... except when it comes to the conditions for having a binding agreement

BY : Camille Aubin

By offering and accepting the terms of an agreement without seeing the final draft agreement, you might well be sealing the deal without keeping control over the details. The Federal Court of Canada recently reminded both deal-makers and litigants of the dangers of negotiating a settlement agreement without vigilance. The Court provided a clear overview of key elements in determining whether or not an agreement has been reached, which are crucial to avoid the precipitous conclusion of an agreement before it is intended.

Certificates of supplementary protection:one year later

BY : Danièle Ethier

Since September 21, 2017, a new Certificate of Supplementary Protection (hereafter referred to as a "CSP") Regime has been implemented which may allow patent holders to receive up to 2 years of additional patent protection for approved medicines. In the past year, several CSP applications have been submitted and reviewed, which gives us insight as to how this additional protection is granted and how the CSP regulations are interpreted by Health Canada.

Choose a Cannabis Trademark you can actually use

BY : Stella Syrianos

The burgeoning cannabis industry has undoubtedly created new opportunities for businesses to innovate and prosper but it has also presented challenges in selecting brands. Truth to be told, choosing a trademark for any market is usually not an easy task. There are various common barriers found in the Trademarks Act such as not selecting a trademark which is confusing with some one else’s trademark (registered or not). However, the cannabis industry is faced with additional legislative restrictions rooted in the Cannabis Act and its related Regulations.

Patenting AI assisted inventions - is a new obviousness standard required?

BY : Yuheng Tom Zhang

One of the reasons why Artificial Intelligence (AI) has received so much recent attention is that it can be used to solve problems and make new discoveries beyond what humans, by themselves, were capable of before. Conceiving new solutions to problems and making new discoveries inevitably leads to a discussion of seeking IP protection.



ROBIC around the world BY : ROBIC Come meet our professionals LES Asia Pacific Regional Conference - 10 to 14 November 2018 New Delhi, India François Painchaud LES China Annual Conference - 20 to 24 November 2018 Beijing, Chine François Painchaud BIOMED Finance - November 21 2018 Montréal, Canada Charles Goyer and Liliana Korosi LES France Annual Meeting - December 4 2018 Paris, France François Painchaud Québec City Healthcare Industry Forum - 5 to 6 December 2018 Québec, Canada Louise Bernier and Charles Goyer IP Seminar at Airbus - 6 to 7 December 2018 Blagnac, France Louis-Pierre Gravelle LESI Winter Planning Meeting - 25 to 27 January 2019 Miami, FL François Painchaud