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Recent Posts
- September Changes to Estates Practice: Enduring Powers of Attorney and Representation Agreements
- Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 2
- Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 1
- Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and Actual Usefulness
- Privacy between Private Parties and the Disclosure of Information
- IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model
- Music for a Pound, or a Pound of Flesh?
- Lawyers and iPhones (and iPads) Shouldn’t Mix
- RoB Magazine declares victory on the Smartphone Plains of Abraham
- Research in Motion’s Opportunity to Promulgate Freedom
- Bill C-32: The Latest Attempt to Amend the Copyright Act
- Interpreting the NHL and the disallowed Sedin goal
- The Speciation of Web Sites
- Library Manifesto
- Technology (law) is everywhere!
- How to save a drowning business
- Information is the Good, the Currency, and the Era
- Opening the Scope of Employee Contribution
- On Virtual Travel
- Who carries your Web 2.0 banner?
Recent Comments
- Jeremy Costin's weblawg.net Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 1 on Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and Actual Usefulness
- Ben Gornall on IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model
- Nimda Sys on Information is the Good, the Currency, and the Era
- Francina Kocaj on Information is the Good, the Currency, and the Era
- David T Michaels on IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model
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Author Archives: Jeremy Costin
September Changes to Estates Practice: Enduring Powers of Attorney and Representation Agreements
The revised structure of the law is this:
To grant full health care authority, but only health care authority, a s.9 representation agreement will be the appropriate document, and it will be much simpler than the previous version.
To grant full financial affairs authority that will continue notwithstanding a loss of capacity by the donor, a new enduring power of attorney, complete with the new protections and responsibilities, will be the appropriate document.
These two documents separate health care and financial matters in a manner that makes practical sense: the s.9 representation agreement will be read by a health care practitioner; the enduring power of attorney will be read by a financial worker. Continue reading
Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and Actual Usefulness
How many of the would-be defendants simply negotiate the licence – not a one-time settlement but an ongoing licence (perhaps under duress?) – to avoid the more costly lawsuit, even though they have no intention of using the patented matter any further?
Here we come to the difference between potential usefulness, which speculation underlies the granting of the patent, and actual usefulness, evidence of which underlies the infringement lawsuit. Continue reading
Privacy between Private Parties and the Disclosure of Information
Privacy law in Canada between private parties is biased toward the protection of privacy rather than the protection of free enterprise. … In Canada, and specifically in British Columbia, an individual’s personal information may be considered forever to be bonded to that individual. Continue reading
Posted in Business Law, Communications, Privacy
Tagged Communications, disclosure, ethics, PIPA, PIPEDA, Privacy
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IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model
The difference between a law firm that makes its money by suing on behalf of it clients and a patent trolling business is this: A law firm is an association of professionals who represent injured parties; a patent troll acquires the right to injury and injury damages without having been injured. Continue reading
Posted in Business Law, Intellectual Property
Tagged ethics, Intellectual Property, patent troll
2 Comments
Music for a Pound, or a Pound of Flesh?
Music not shared is music not heard, and a band not shared basks only in obscurity. Gene Simmons regrets not having been more vigilant in his marshaling of the RIAA cavalry back in 2007. A fundamental question is how to monetize an industrialized art form without creating an artificial scarcity that undermines the cultural popularity on which that art form is dependent. Ars Technica has an article this week highlighting the competing views on how to monetize music in the absence of natural scarcity. Continue reading
Lawyers and iPhones (and iPads) Shouldn’t Mix
“A lawyer shall not disclose … having been consulted or retained by a person…” … The question that remains for me is whether, in light of the iOS4 privacy policy, lawyers should avoid even carrying unsecured electronic devices that allow questionable access to information by undisclosed third-party app providers. … You don’t need a person’s name to identify them, nor any unique piece of data. What you need is a unique combination of non-unique pieces of data. Continue reading
Posted in Communications, Information Technology, Privacy
Tagged Apple, blackberry, iOS4, iPad, iPhone
1 Comment
RoB Magazine declares victory on the Smartphone Plains of Abraham
RoB Magazine has declared Apple the victor over Research in Motion in a presumed battle between Cupertino and Waterloo for the smartphone Plains of Abraham. … I understand that for an investor, the likely more profitable performer in the short term is an important determination; but to pronounce the industry a zero-sum game is foolish. That said, the author raises an important point that if followed in combination with RIM’s existing advantages could shoot it back up to leading Apple around a marketplace of its own design. Continue reading
Posted in Business, Communications, Information Technology
Tagged Apple, blackberry, Business, Communications, Information Technology, iPhone, Research in Motion, Torch
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Research in Motion’s Opportunity to Promulgate Freedom
Several countries, none of which is a finalist in the Freedom to the People sweepstakes, are considering blackballing the BlackBerry for being too secure… The better route for BlackBerry is to work with these governments to reshape their privacy policies in favour of citizen rights. Continue reading
Posted in Business, Civil Liberties, Communications
Tagged blackberry, Business, Civil Liberties, Communications, encryption, Information Technology, Privacy
3 Comments
Interpreting the NHL and the disallowed Sedin goal
Last night’s playoff game had a disallowed goal based on it having gone off a skate. In my arguing over this on Facebook, I decided to put my legal brain to the task, since it’s not completely out of steam … Continue reading
Posted in Legal Explorations
Tagged Daniel Sedin, disallowed goal, distinct kicking motion, nhl
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