|
|
|
Competition Policy and IP (Intellectual Property)
Legal Spotlight |
2007/03/28 22:43
|
| While response to last week's federal budget unsurprisingly focused on new spending, it also included a commitment to create an expert independent panel to conduct a review of Canadian competition policy. Given that the Minister of Industry envisions a broad mandate to "review anything under the federal umbrella that affects competition within the Canadian economy", intellectual property ought to form a part of that review. I've written about the intersection between anti-circumvention legislation and competition policy, while others have expressed concern about competition and copyright, patents, and trademarks. The media may focus on foreign investment restrictions, but Canadians might be better served by analysis of an IP regime that supports innovation and competition by paying close attention to striking the right balance. As Supreme Court Justice Binnie reminded us when discussing the copyright balance in the Theberge decision: The proper balance among these and other public policy objectives lies not only in recognizing the creator's rights but in giving due weight to their limited nature. In crassly economic terms it would be as inefficient to overcompensate artists and authors for the right of reproduction as it would be self-defeating to undercompensate them.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
Law Firm Directory
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
