Archive for the 'Competition and IP' Category
May 21, 2014
Several days ago the Competition Bureau posted new remarks by the Commissioner of Competition from the Canadian Bar Association’s 2014 Competition Law Spring Forum (one of two annual Canadian competition law conferences hosted by the CBA). See: Remarks by John Pecman, Commissioner of Competition. These new remarks are a bit of a “one stop shop” for Canadian competition law developments over the past year or two. A few highlights of the Commissioner’s remarks that caught my eye included:
May 11, 2014
My colleague Andrei Mincov recently published a very interesting and innovative new book on intellectual property law, entitled The Ultimate Insider’s Guide to Intellectual Property.
CANADIAN CASL (ANTI-SPAM LAW) PRECEDENTS
Do you need a precedent or checklist
to comply with CASL (Canadian anti-spam law)?
We offer Canadian anti-spam law (CASL) precedents and checklists to help electronic marketers comply with CASL. These include checklists and precedents for express consent requests (including on behalf of third parties), sender identification information, unsubscribe mechanisms, business related exemptions and types of implied consent and documenting consent and scrubbing distribution lists. We also offer a CASL corporate compliance program. For more information or to order, see: Anti-Spam (CASL) Precedents/Forms. If you would like to discuss CASL legal advice or for other advertising or marketing in Canada, including contests/sweepstakes, contact us: contact.
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May 7, 2014
Canada’s CRTC, one of three federal agencies that will be administering and enforcing Canada’s upcoming federal anti-spam legislation (CASL), has issued new Frequently Asked Questions: Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation: FAQs. CASL comes largely into force July 1, 2014.
April 18, 2014
Guest post by Andrei Mincov
(Trademark Factory – reprinted with permission)
As many of you know, the Federal Government recently introduced Bill C-31, the Economic Action Plan 2014, No. 1. Among the changes to almost 40 different pieces of legislation, it introduces many significant and long-awaited changes to the Trade-marks Act.
Do you need contest rules/precedents
for a Canadian contest?
We offer many types of Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents and forms (i.e., Canadian contest/sweepstakes law precedents to run common types of contests in Canada). These include precedents for random draw contests (i.e., where winners are chosen by random draw), skill contests (e.g., essay, photo or other types of contests where entrants submit content that is judged to enter the contest or for additional entries), trip contests and more. Also available are individual Canadian contest/sweepstakes precedents, including short rules (“mini-rules”), long rules, winner releases and a Canadian contest law checklist. For more information or to order, see: Canadian Contest Law Forms/Precedents. If you would like to discuss legal advice in relation to your contest or other promotion, contact us: Contact.
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TopDog Social Media has posted a new podcast on social media contests entitled Is Your Social Media Contest Breaking the Law (and thank you TopDog for chatting with me about social media contest laws and rules). Some of the topics discussed in TopDog’s new podcast include:
The 5 most common illegal contest mistakes by businesses running contests online and over social media; Apple’s restrictions on giving away iPads & iPhones; one mistake that cost a business $170,000 in fines; two major components to ensuring your social media contest is legal; some of the basic rules you legally need to include in any contest; some of the legalities surrounding the use of third party materials; a few ways to tell if your advertising may be false or misleading; what you can and can’t legally use information for that you collect in a contest; social networks with the most and least strict policies for contests; some of YouTube’s quirky rule about using entrant information; some of what Facebook expects you to say when you run a contest; how Quebec’s strict rules could provide an opportunity for businesses; and thinking about whether your social media contest is in fact an “illegal lottery”.
February 18, 2014
A lot of advertising law, both in Canada and other major jurisdictions, tends to revolve around two major themes: deception and ownership. As such, when it comes to reviewing advertising for compliance in Canada, a lot of issues (or potential issues) can be identified with two main questions: first, “is it true” (i.e., false or misleading)?; and second, “do we own it”?
January 6, 2014
On December 4, 2013, the Federal Government announced that Canada’s new anti-spam legislation (CASL) would finally largely come into force on July 1, 2014 (with several transition periods for the unauthorized installation of computer program and private action provisions). The following is my updated summary of the impending CASL, including summaries of the consent, form and unsubscribe requirements (and legislative links and key resources).
December 18, 2013
Tis the season for annual reviews and updates. In this spirit, the Global Competition Review (GCR) has published its annual Antitrust Review of the Americas for 2014. This year’s issue includes contributions relating to the ICN, U.S. antitrust enforcement (cartels, CFIUS, IP & antitrust, mergers, private litigation, unilateral conduct and vertical restraints) and Canadian competition law enforcement (cartels, Investment Canada Act, mergers, abuse of dominance and private actions). This year’s issue also includes competition/antitrust law updates for Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Equador, Mexico, Panama and Suriname. For a copy of the new issue see: Antitrust Review of the Americas 2014.
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
