Law Commons^™

The Development Of An Expectations Theory Of Patent Law By Creating A Nexus With John Locke's Theory Of Private Property, Jason D. Newman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

This thesis reviews the Lockean justification of private physical property as an explanation for patent “property,” identifies its weaknesses, and modifies it to create a new theory of patent law based on expectations. After describing the characteristics of technical information, that description is applied to three different interpretations of the Lockean condition which demonstrate a strain in defining technical knowledge as property. The technical information paradigm is then applied to an expectations theory, which demonstrates a broad connection to the Lockean conditions, but maintains a fit within a wider patent law interpretation. The expectations theory also creates an avenue …

Reputation As The Key Link Amongst Moral Rights, Prohibited Marks, And Geographical Indications, Darinka Tomic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Moral rights, prohibited marks, and geographical indications (GI) appear in Canadian intellectual property (IP) statutes and international IP instruments – but do not mirror the characteristics of the classic IP triad (patents, copyrights, and trademarks). The classic triad are alienable (tradeable, licensable, able to be transferred away by their owners). Moral rights, prohibited marks, and GI are inalienable (not able to be transferred to others by the persons entitled to them) and thus distinguishable from classic IP. This research demonstrates another characteristic setting moral rights, prohibited marks, and GI apart from classic IP: a common preoccupation with reputation or esteem. …

Abolishing Canadian Crown Copyright: Why Government Documents Should Not Be Subject To Copyright, Emily Benton

Master of Studies in Law Research Papers Repository

Section 12 of the Canadian Copyright Act, which assigns the government copyright ownership over all documents produced by the federal government for a period of fifty years, has remained virtually unchanged since being introduced into Canada’s copyright legislation in 1921. This provision is known as Crown copyright, and its continued existence serves as a barrier to the reuse of public sector information by the public, despite the fact that said documents were produced by government employees whose salaries are paid for by the taxpayers. This paper looks at Crown copyright through a global and Charter lens, evaluating how s.12 fits …

The Right To Food And The Right To Intellectual Property In The United Nations (Including International Human Rights) And International Trade: Finding The Definition, Darinka Tomic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intellectual property (IP) is omnipresent in both the context of the United Nations (UN) system (including international human rights law and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)), and international trade law, while the right to food has a much lower international profile. IP moved into international trade in 1994 through the TRIPS Agreement. The right to food has no presence in international trade. These two rights are the focus of this study – but are contrasted with several other rights: the right to health and the rights of persons with disabilities. The right to health was not present in …

Laying The Foundation For Copyright Policy And Practice In Canadian Universities, Lisa Di Valentino

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Due to significant changes in the Canadian copyright system, universities are seeking new ways to address the use of copyrighted works within their institutions. While the law provides quite a bit of leeway for use of copyrighted materials for educational and research purposes, the response by Canadian universities and related associations has not been to fully embrace their legal rights – rather, they have taken an approach that places emphasis on risk avoidance rather than maximizing use of materials, unlike their American counterparts. In the U.S., where educational fair use is arguably less flexible in application than fair dealing, there …

A Comparison Of Ontario's Accessibility For Ontarians With Disabilities Act And The Canadian Copyright Act: Compliance, Enforcement, Risks, And The Implications For Ontario Community Colleges, Meaghan Shannon

Master of Studies in Law Research Papers Repository

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act [AODA] confers rights of accessibility by detailing how individuals and organizations offering goods and services should comply and monitoring compliance through the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario. By contrast, the federal Copyright Act confers rights upon authors and other rights owners without detailing how users of works and other materials can achieve compliance with the Act and without establishing an administrative body to monitor compliance. This research, through a case study of a community college, compares and contrasts the implications of the two different legislative styles in terms of the risks borne by affected …

The Copyright Board And Tribunals Process: Users In The Balance, Louis J. D'Alton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The wholesale adoption of copyright collective management as public policy tool has had an extraordinary impact on the information landscape. The unfettered expansion of collective rights organizations throughout the 20^th century has resulted in increased social costs and a burgeoning bureaucracy surrounding the collective use of rights.

This thesis considers the role of copyright tribunals within that process, and more importantly within a critical historical frame. While some work has been done with respect to copyright tribunals and their role in the policy process, none of it has considered the tribunals within a critical frame. This thesis considers those …

Re-Imagining The Principle Of National Treatment: Addressing Private International Law Issues In Copyright Infringement In The Internet Era, Ragavi Ramesh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines the principle of National Treatment enshrined in international copyright treaties to address private international law issues in copyright infringement occurring over the Internet. The thesis provides a brief overview of private international law and analyzed the principle of National Treatment as a private international law rule determining jurisdiction and applicable law. The primary case studies in the thesis include an analysis of the rules adopted in copyright disputes by courts in England, France, the United States and Canada in the pre- and post-Internet contexts, as well as a discussion of the European Union as an exception to …

Trademarks And Geographical Indications: Conflict Or Coexistence?, Melissa A. Loucks

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Both trademarks and geographical indications are legal devices which regulate communication to markets about a product. Trademarks indicate the commercial origin of a good or service while geographical indications signal the geographic origin. Both tools also legally grant exclusive rights to certain uses of a word or symbol. Tension arises when the tools overlap on the same subject matter. The thesis asks: is coexistence between the devices in the TRIPS Agreement possible? Are the concepts of trademarks and geographical indications related? If so, how? If not, how? Does the marketing literature of business recognize both registered trademarks and geographical indications …

The Codex: Labelling Of Food Derived From Modern Biotechnology, Sowmya Latha Hemanahally Vishwanatha

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is an international organisation tasked to develop global food standards. In 1993, it decided to develop standards for labelling food derived from modern biotechnology. Despite demands to discontinue its work and an inability to achieve consensus, the “Compilation of Codex texts relevant to labelling of food derived from modern biotechnology” was adopted in 2011. The Compilation accepts different approaches to labelling and comprises ten guidelines that need to be adopted in national labelling policies.

Two models of labelling are prevalent. The voluntary model of labelling allows corporations the choice to label. The mandatory model provides more …

Intellectual Property And Its Alternatives: Incentives, Innovation And Ideology, Michael B. Mcnally

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines the ability of intellectual property and its alternatives to both facilitate and impede innovation. The thesis begins by positing that a more detailed and nuanced understanding of alternatives to intellectual property is required so that such alternatives can be effectively used to mitigate the problems of the expansionary intellectual property regime. The thesis is that substantive alternatives to intellectual property utilize a broader range of incentive structures to encourage the production and distribution of intellectual goods, facilitate greater access to such goods and their informational content and engender innovative outcomes that go beyond the narrow, instrumentalist goals …