Update on Blacklock’s Mega Motion of December 12, 2018.
The hearing of Blacklock’s 3000 page mega motion in its copyright infringement action against the Attorney General took place on December 12, 2018. Howard Knopf attended . Click here for Howard’s overall impression.
Plant Breeders’ Rights for Cannabis in Canada.
On October 17, 2018, recreational marijuana became legal across Canada, joining the already legal medicinal marijuana. As a result, many individuals and companies are keen to create new varieties of Cannabis for sale and are interested in protecting these new varieties.
However, there are still no definite rules for the examination and evaluation of these varieties, and many questions surrounding how this can be done, considering that cannabis is still prohibited in most countries. Even in Canada there are numerous restrictions. In fact, since marijuana has its circulation or transportation banned, many breeders are choosing to do asexual reproduction rather than seed propagation. In light of that, Ashley Chu and Eduardo Fonseca have prepared an article addressing important information about the current scenario of protection and problems and possible solutions for current and future breeders.
The article has been published by the CIOPORA, the International Community of Breeders of Asexually Reproduced Ornamental and Fruit Plants, on its website. CIOPORA is the most important Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) / Plant variety protection (PVP) association bringing together 125 plant breeders, national breeder associations, patent attorneys and Intellectual Property consultants from 25 countries. The article will also be included into the next newsletter issue for all members.
You can read and download the publication here: https://www.ciopora.org/single-post/2018/12/12/Canada-Road-to-Plant-Breeders%E2%80%99-Rights-for-Cannabis
Thank you!
Moffat & Co. are happy to participate in the Elgin Street Courthouse Angel Program again in 2018! The gifts are for needy children in our community.
Moffat & Co. was honoured to co-host a dinner reception with the Consul General of Canada, Mrs. Evelyne Coulombe, at her Official Residence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 30, 2018.
The reception took place a few days after the Inter American Intellectual Property Association (ASIPI) annual meeting, also held in Rio, which was attended by our partners Eduardo Fonseca and James Palmer. The dinner was a great opportunity to celebrate with the firms and companies from Rio who have entrusted their business to our firm. It was also a chance for all the participants to discuss future cooperation and partnerships. The Canadian Consulate in Rio is very active in the development of business relations between Canadian and Brazilian entrepreneurs. Moffat & Co. is pleased and proud to successfully assist these entrepreneurs and we hope that these partnerships endure.
In the photo, from left to right are Eduardo Fonseca and his wife Sabrina Nakano, the Consul General Evelyne Coulombe and her husband, and James Palmer.
On November 28, 2019, Howard Knopf appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU). Here are his speaking notes.
On November 21, 2018, Howard Knopf appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce (BANC). Here are his speaking notes.
Important note: The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has recently undergone major changes to its internal IT system. Consequently, a number of CIPO’s routine operations are experiencing significant delays, including processing correspondence and filings, issuing outgoing correspondence, maintaining accurate application statuses, and more. It is currently unknown when these delays will be resolved, but we will continue to closely monitor all cases and the situation for any developments.
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