Law Library of Congress Report on Selected Issues in Biotechnology Regulation

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. recently published a comparative report on Selected Issues in Biotechnology Regulation that looks at the main statutes and policies in multiple countries relating to the development of biotechnology products, in particular genetically-modified organisms:

"The jurisdictions reviewed are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, England, the European Union (EU), Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, and Taiwan, all of which have a variety of official sources (including laws, regulations, and policies) governing biotechnology matters."

"A number of these sources provide definitions of relevant terms in this field, including “genetic engineering” and “genetically modified organisms,” which are included in the study. Due to the technical complexity of these topics, a basic understanding of these definitions is a helpful introduction to each surveyed jurisdiction’s framework on biotechnologies. Multilateral and bilateral agreements addressing international cooperation on the development of these technologies are also covered in this survey."

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2 and a half million volumes from all ages of history and virtually every jurisdiction in the world.

Over the years, it has published dozens of comparative law reports which are a treasure trove for legal research on a huge variety of issues.

Most Recent Issue of the Canadian Law Library Review

The most recent issue of the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR) is available online.

The CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL). It is an open access publication.

Check out the features article:

• Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: AI-Driven Drug Discovery and the Challenges It Poses  to the Canadian Patent System (starts on p. 9): "Artificial Intelligence is emerging as a general-purpose technology with widespread applications. In particular, AI driven drug discovery is becoming increasingly prevalent as high costs and attrition rates associated with developing new drugs pose significant challenges to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Brand-name pharma companies have adopted machine learning platforms for target identification and lead molecule development to aid in novel drug design. The rapid development of these AI-based solutions, however, raises fundamental intellectual property questions and may require a re-evaluation of Canada’s current patent system. This paper outlines the challenges associated with inventorship and patentability in AI-driven drug discovery and, in doing so, investigates whether Canadian patent law should be reformed to accommodate this rapidly emerging technology"

Presentations from Recent Course of the International Association of Law Libraries

The International Association of Law Libraries recently held its 41st Annual Course in Geneva, Switzerland.

Many of the presentations are now inline.

Some highlights:

• The New Roles of the World Trade Organization after the Pandemic Crisis
• The Swiss Legal Order and International Law: Does Direct Democracy Make a Difference?
• The Work of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore
• The War in Ukraine: Challenges and Opportunities for International Humanitarian Law
• Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines: Perspective from Médecins Sans Frontières
• Current Issues in Disarmament and Arms Control
• From Words to Deeds, Understanding Armed Non-State Actors Practice and Interpretation of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Norms

Updated Globalex Research Guides on Foreign and International Law Topics

GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has updated a number of its research guides;

• Researching Scottish Legal History: "This research guide was created to assist with research on Scottish legal history. It is adapted from the author’s research guide created for the Georgetown Law Library. The guide covers the feudal period through 1901 and up to referenda on independence from 2014, as well as Scotland’s position on Brexit. Pre-eminent print and electronic resources are highlighted. Annotations are provided for some of these resources."
• Introduction to Public International Law Research: "Public international law is composed of the laws, rules, and principles of general application that deal with the conduct of nation states and international organizations among themselves as well as the relationships between nation states and international organizations with persons, whether natural or juridical. Public international law is sometimes called the 'law of nations' or just simply 'international law.' It should not be confused with private international law, which is primarily concerned with the resolution of conflict of laws in the international setting, determining the law of which country is applicable to specific situations. In researching this field of law, the researcher must also be aware of comparative law, the study of differences and similarities between the laws of different countries. Comparative law is the study of the different legal systems in existence in the world, i.e. common law, civil law, socialist law, Islamic law, Hindu law and Chinese law. As there is no central international body that creates public international law, research in this field requires the use of a wide variety of sources (...) This guide is intended as an introduction to the topic and to help researchers find the most used sources and materials in the area with a primary focus on electronic research."
• International Trademark Law – The Madrid System: "Registration of trademarks in multiple jurisdictions around the world is governed by two independent treaties—the Madrid Agreement (the Agreement) and the Madrid Protocol (the Protocol). Despite its name, the Protocol is a separate treaty and not a 'protocol' to the Agreement. Together, the Agreement and the Protocol are known as the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks (the Madrid System). States party to the Agreement and/or the Protocol and organizations party to the Protocol are referred to collectively as Contracting Parties. Together, they constitute the Madrid Union, which is a Special Union under Article 19 of the Paris Convention. The Madrid System is a centrally administered system (by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO) for obtaining a bundle of trademark registrations in separate jurisdictions, creating in effect a basis for an 'international registration' of marks. This guide is intended to highlight the resources and important issues encountered in using the Madrid System for the international registration of marks."

World Intellectual Property Organization Launches Free Database of IP Decisions from Around the World

 The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has launched  WIPO Lex-Judgments, a free database of leading decisions on intellectual property law from around the world.

As the official press release explained last week:

"WIPO-Lex Judgments contributes to a greater overall understanding of how courts are handling these issues, by making available judgments - selectively curated by the relevant authorities in participating member states - that establish precedent or offer a persuasive interpretation of IP law in their jurisdiction. At launch, WIPO Lex-Judgments contained over 400 documents from 10 countries (...)"

"By fostering accessibility of information on judicial decisions, WIPO Lex-Judgments will contribute to informing and strengthening courts’ analyses and reasoning, as well as to discerning both converging and contrasting national approaches to common IP questions."

"In addition, WIPO Lex-Judgments provides information on the judicial structures for IP disputes in participating member states. This allows users to appreciate the spectrum of structures that include generalist and specialist courts, as well as administrative entities that carry out quasi-judicial functions, and their diverse features that respond to the technical nature of IP disputes."

COVID-19 IP Policy Tracker From World Intellectual Property Office

The World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has launched the COVID-19 IP Policy Tracker to help users track intellectual property policy changes being implemented by WIPO member states in their response to the global pandemic.

It contains information on measures adopted by countries such as:

• changes to how hearings into IP matters are held
• extensions of time or grace periods for fee payments in patent and trade-mark matters
• special measures such as compulsory licenses allowing or ordering the manufacture, use and sale of a patented invention such as a medicine to respond to a pandemic-related public health emergency 
• voluntary actions by academia (e.g. making copyrighted publications available for free) and corporations

Free WIPO Global Database on Intellectual Property Law

I learned today that the World Intellectual Property Organization, a specialized Agency of the United Nations, maintains WIPO Lex, a free database with information on international IP treaties as well as laws and regulations of some 200 countries.

According to an explanation on the website:

"WIPO Lex aims to achieve the objective set forth in Article 4(vi) of the WIPO Convention, that is, WIPO 'shall assemble and disseminate information concerning the protection of intellectual property, carry out and promote studies in this field, and publish the results of such studies.' WIPO Lex covers all WIPO Member States (...)"

"WIPO Lex also covers IP legal information of the Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in accordance with the Agreement between WIPO and WTO of December 22, 1995, which provides for the WTO Secretariat to transmit to the International Bureau of WIPO, a copy of the laws and regulations received by the WTO Secretariat from WTO Members under Article 63.2 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights."

Computer, Internet and E-commerce Law Year in Review

Barry Sookman, senior partner in the Toronto office of McCarthy Tétrault, recently posted The year in review: developments in computer, internet and e-commerce law (2016-2017):

"I gave my annual presentation today to the Toronto computer Lawyers’ Group (...)  It covered the period from June 2016 to June 2017. The developments included cases from Canada, the U.S. the U.K., and other EU and Commonwealth countries."

"The developments were organized into the broad topics of: Online Liability/Intermediary Remedies, Copyright, Trade-marks/Domain Names, Technology Contracting, e-Commerce & Online Agreements, and Canada’s (despised) anti-spam/malware law, CASL. "

"The cases referred to are listed below. My slides can be viewed after the case listing. These and many other cases will be added to my 7 volume book on Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law (1988-2016)."

 Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law is one of the major Canadian textbooks in the field.

Updated Research Guides From GlobaLex

One of the sources I consult for research guides on international law topics is GlobaLex, the electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law.

It recently updated a number of its excellent research guides:

• A Guide to Fee-Based U. S. Legal Research Databases: "This guide is designed primarily for non-U.S. legal researchers. It describes several providers of legal research databases, focusing on fee-based sources, both high-cost and low-cost (...) Among commercial providers, WestlawNext, Lexis Advance, and Bloomberg Law (including Bloomberg BNA and PACER) are the largest and most sophisticated in terms of search features in searching and other features), but often the most expensive. Fastcase, Casemaker, and VersusLaw are considered to be low-cost databases. Specifically, Casemaker and Fastcase are free to state bar members in many states. Additionally, Bloomberg BNA (included in Bloomberg Law), CCH IntelliConnect, HeinOnline, and Thomson Reuters Checkpoint provide expensive, sophisticated, and specialized products for practitioners in areas such as labor law, environmental law, securities, taxation, and immigration law. Although they have not been introduced in this article, other important fee-based databases are PACER (also included in Bloomberg Law), CourtLink (by Lexis), Courthouse News Service, Law360 (also included in Lexis), and CourtExpress (by Westlaw) for court docket and case information service, Lexis Securities Mosaic for securities, LexisNexis Accurint for public records, AILA Link for immigration law, vLex and Foreign Law Guide for foreign laws, WorldTradeLaw.net for international trade law, and Proquest Congressional for legislative history research, etc."
• International Trademark Law – The Madrid System: "Registration of trademarks in multiple jurisdictions around the world is governed by two independent treaties—the Madrid Agreement (the Agreement) and the Madrid Protocol (the Protocol). Despite its name, the Protocol is a separate treaty and not a “protocol” to the Agreement. Together, the Agreement and the Protocol are known as the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks (the Madrid System). States party to the Agreement and/or the Protocol and organizations party to the Protocol are referred to collectively as Contracting Parties. Together, they constitute the Madrid Union, which is a Special Union under Article 19 of the Paris Convention. The Madrid System is a centrally administered system (by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO) for obtaining a bundle of trademark registrations in separate jurisdictions, creating in effect a basis for an "international registration" of marks. This guide is intended to highlight the resources and important issues encountered in using the Madrid System for the international registration of marks."

Law Commission of England Final Report on Patents, Trade Marks and Designs: Unjustified Threats

The Law Commission of England and Wales this week published a final report on Patents, Trade Marks and Designs: Unjustified Threats along with a draft bill for consideration by the UK Parliament:

"Patents, trade marks and design rights are valuable intellectual property (IP) rights and a vital foundation of economic growth. These rights ensure that innovation is rewarded and encouraged. The law provides a means by which they can be effectively enforced; however, this can be misused to stifle new ideas and competition. The mere threat of infringement proceedings is capable of causing significant commercial damage to a business by driving customers away."

The Commission is proposing new legal provisions to:

• protect retailers, suppliers and customers against threats,
• provide more certainty over what approaches can be made legitimately to potential infringers,
• bring more clarity over when businesses can safely threaten competitors who do infringe their IP rights, and
• protect professional advisers from being sued for making threats when they act for their clients

Upcoming Copyright Courses

There are a number of upcoming copyright-related courses that might interest information professionals:

•  Creative Commons Crash Course (October 7). This webinar is being offered by the American Library Association. The speaker will be Carli Spina, Emerging Technologies and Research Librarian at the Harvard Law School Library
• Developing a Copyright Policy or Guidelines (October 14-30). This online series of tutorials is offered by copyrightlaws.com, a website run by copyright expert Leslie Ellen Harris.
• Copyright - An Overview (October 16). This one-day class is being held at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Education. The speaker is Jean Bryden, Chair of the Copyright Committee of the Bureau of Canadian Archivists

Canadian Library Association CLA Digest for June 2014

The Canadian Library Association (CLA) publishes a regular news bulletin known as CLA Digest.

In the most recent issue, there are a number of items that caught my interest:

• New Proposed Cyberbullying Law (C-13) is Well Intentioned but Introduces Serious Risks to Personal Privacy: "Based on the scope of the anti-cyberbullying measures, the CLA’s position is that Bill C-13 provides law enforcement agencies with greater access to private information such as metadata since the Bill allows internet service providers to voluntarily hand over private customer information to policing agencies without facing civil or criminal liability. As such, while Bill C-13 emphasizes judicial oversight when requesting private information from internet service providers by providing warrants to legitimate private information requests, since the Bill has no provisions which hold internet service providers (ISPs) accountable, it has the potential to result in major privacy violations for Canadians. More specifically, the CLA is concerned that Canadian libraries will be unable to provide effective library services to their users since libraries will be unable to ensure the necessary protections for patrons accessing their networks and resources."
• CLA Letters to Canadian Government Regarding WIPO VIP Treaty: "The Canadian Library Association (CLA), along with many other organizations and the print disabled community in Canada, celebrated the adoption of the WIPO Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (VIP Treaty) on June 27, 2013. The Canadian Government was deservedly commended for its role in the successful completion of the negotiations. CLA notes that as of April 30, 2014 sixty-four countries have signed the VIP Treaty including the European Union and the United States. To date it is our understanding that Canada has not yet signed. CLA trusts that it is your Government’s intent to sign the VIP Treaty in a timely manner."
• Call for Proposals - EBLIP Fall Symposium: Librarians as Researcher : "The Centre for Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (C-EBLIP) Fall Symposium: Librarians as Researchers is a one-day conference (with complimentary registration, including breaks and lunch) designed to facilitate sharing, collaboration, and networking with the focus on librarians in their researcher roles.  The symposium will consist of a series of single-track sessions, along with a keynote address, and time for networking. The sessions will focus not only on the research being done by librarians, but also on why librarians are doing research – their motivations or inspirations." [the event is October 15, 2014 at the University Library, University of Saskatchewan]

Law Library of Congress Report on Restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms

The Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has published a new comparative report on Restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms.

The report analyzes legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically modified (GM) plants and foods in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, England and Wales, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Russian Federation, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States.

There is also a bibliography.

Earlier comparative law reports from the Law Library of Congress have covered topics such as:

• Adjudication of Sexual Offenses in Military Justice Systems
• Bioethics
• Biometric Data Retention for Passport Applicants and Holders
• Campaign Finance
• Children's Rights
• Constitutional Provisions on Women's Equality
• Education of Non-Native Language Speaking Children
• Foreign Aid Regulation
• Guest Worker Programs
• Habeas Corpus Rights
• Online Privacy Law
• Repatriation of Historic Human Remains (return of indigenous remains and cultural items)
• Sex Selection & Abortion

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2.65 million volumes from all ages of history and virtually every jurisdiction in the world.

Law Commission of England Consultation on Patents, Trade Marks and Design Rights: Groundless Threats

The Law Commission of England and Wales is undertaking a consultation on what are known as groundless threats in patent and trade-mark cases:

"Intellectual property rights are a vital foundation of economic growth.  Patents, trade marks and design rights ensure that innovation is rewarded and encouraged.  If misused, however, they can stifle new ideas and inventions.  Infringement litigation can be disruptive and expensive.  The law provides a remedy in the shape of the threats provisions.  Where a threat is made without a genuine intention to litigate; where there has been no infringement or where the right is invalid the threat is said to be groundless (or unjustified).  Any person aggrieved by a groundless threat may apply to court for an injunction, declaration or damages."

"There are problems with the current law.  The provisions do not distinguish well between the trade source of the infringement and others with a lesser connection, such as customers.  Groundless threats actions can also be used tactically to drive a wedge between legal advisers and their clients or to drive cases to court rather than encourage negotiations over settlement."

The consultation is part of the Commission's Patents, Trade Marks and Design Rights: Groundless Threats project.

Latest Issue of Feliciter on Digital Rights Management

The February 2013 issue of Feliciter, the monthly journal of the Canadian Library Association, is now available online in 3 different formats:

• Online flip format
• PDF (7.7 MB)
• Screen Reader & Mobile (HTML) 

The main theme of the issue is digital rights management.

Articles on the subject include:

• Guest Editorial - Shifting Tides: How the Re-emergence of DRM Impacts Libraries
• Digital Locks and Canadian Research Library Collections: Implications for Scholarship, Accessibility, and Preservation
• Pick Your Digital Lock Battle: Is It the Law or Licenses We Should Be Worried About?
• Canada’s E-book Withdrawal: Digital Rights Management and the Canadian Electronic Library
• Public Libraries and E-books: After a Tumultuous Honeymoon, Seeking a Stable Marriage
• Copyright and Digital Rights Management: Dealing with Artificial Access Barriers for Students with Print Disabilities

CBA National Magazine's Top 12 Stories of 2012

The Canadian Bar Association's National magazine has highlighted its top 12 stories for 2012.

They cover everything from mental health problems in the legal profession to Supreme Court rulings on supervised drug injection sites.

Research Libraries Association Statements on Aboriginal Knowledge, Open Government and Broadband Access

The Public Policy Committee of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) recently approved three new statements on traditional knowledge, open government initiatives, and access to broadband internet services:

• Traditional knowledge and cultural expressions : "The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is examining intellectual property considerations of traditional knowledge, genetic resources and cultural expressions.  This impacts research libraries, which can house data collected in collaboration with indigenous peoples. CARL members believe that a balance between the protection of ancestral knowledge and sharing knowledge through libraries can be achieved. International agreements should reflect this reality."
• Open Government: "Open Government encourages transparency and accountability by providing the public with information on the state’s activities. The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) supports the Government of Canada’s Open Government initiatives. Once implemented, these measures will provide Canadians with more information about their government’s activities. For researchers, this means access to information that would otherwise be unobtainable (...) The Open Data initiative is of particular importance to CARL, given our members’ role in preserving and distributing information and knowledge for both research and learning."
• Access to broadband Internet services for all Canadians : "Access to broadband Internet presents Canadians with the widest range of opportunities to conduct business, learn, innovate and communicate in the international digital marketplace. The Internet allows governments, educational institutions and private companies to provide direct services to the population no matter where they are in Canada, thus eliminating geographical barriers. CARL believes that access to reliable and affordable high speed Internet is in the interest of all Canadians. We strongly encourage government initiatives that further broadband Internet access to all Canadians, regardless of their geographic location and financial means."

[Source: CARL E-lert Archive]

Slaw.ca Adds New Group of Intellectual Property Columnists

The online law blog/magazine Slaw.ca has announced that it is adding a new group of intellectual property columnists.

The new writers come from a range of law firms as well as from the University of Toronto.

Guardian (UK) Series on the "Battle for the Internet"

The UK newspaper The Guardian has published a wonderful series on the future of the Internet called Battle for the Internet:

"The Guardian is taking stock of the new battlegrounds for the internet. From states stifling dissent to the new cyberwar front line, we look at the challenges facing the dream of an open internet"

Every day over a period of one week, the daily has tackled the major flashpoints relating to the future of cyberspace:

• the new Cold War (state censorship)
• militarization of cyberspace
• the new walled gardens (app stores, social network sites like Facebook, surveillance bills)
• the IP wars
• 'civilizing' the web
• the open resistance (hacktivists and open Internet proponents)
• the end of privacy

WIPO Lex Intellectual Property Law Search Engine

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) today launched WIPO Lex, an online IP reference resource which provides up-to-date information on national IP laws and treaties of the members of WIPO, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.

It currently features the complete IP legal texts for over 60 countries with substantial coverage for a further 100 legal systems.

WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1967.