Exam 18: Knowledge-Based Businesses and Intellectual Property

BrainFood is a brand used to promote a concoction of natural ingredients sold in natural health stores as a supplement to help with memory retention. Recently, MindFood has come onto the market and has begun selling supplements that, although composed of different ingredients, are also meant to help with memory loss. The packaging is similar, and the two products are sold in the same stores. Which of the following is most likely TRUE?

Avi is a remarkably creative person. He works in several different mediums, meaning that his creations take different forms: sometimes written, sometimes sung, sometimes sketched, and so on. Avi recently became party to a transaction that involved an advance of royalties. That most likely means that

A certification mark is similar to an industrial design, in that both refer to industry standards.

Henrik successfully sued Acme Inc for violation of his moral rights. Which of the following statements is most likely to be TRUE?

Explain the difference between natural scarcity and artificial scarcity. How can intellectual property laws affect the scarcity of a particular asset? Illustrate with an example.

Which of the following would constitute a breach of copyright when carried out without permission from the copyright owner?

Explain why fixation is an essential element of any copyright claim. Should the originality requirement be sufficient? In Gould Estate v Stoddart Publishing Co, a journalist named Jock Carroll visited with Glenn Gould, who was soon to become a world famous pianist, but at that point was still a largely unknown artist. As the pair chatted about a range of topics, Carroll snapped 400 pictures, tape recorded some discussions, and wrote notes for others. After Gould's death many years later, Carroll published a book containing photographs and quotations from the time that the pair spent together. Gould's estate sued Carroll for breach of copyright. The court rejected that claim on the ground that the copyright owner was actually the person taking the notes, and not the person who was being quoted. Do you think this is a fair way to allocate copyright?

Thinking he has invented a new type of mousetrap, Homer begins to market his product. Unbeknownst to him, Olga already owns the patent for an identical mousetrap. Because he did not copy Olga's design, Homer is not infringing her patent.

Marika spends her days in the lab trying to create new and useful inventions. She would like to protect her monopoly over her inventions but only has time to submit one patent application at this time. She would like your advice on which of her following creations is the most likely to be granted a patent in Canada?

Thierry is a successful artist, known across Canada for his marvelous portraits of famous Canadians. His work has been exhibited in the National Gallery, and he is beginning to acquire an international reputation. Recently, Thierry sold one of his paintings to the GuerillaGallery, not realizing that the owners of the GuerillaGallery had nothing but scorn for famous artists, insisting that they have sold out their creativity for the sake of the almighty dollar. The owners promptly took a large black felt marker and added a moustache to the painting's subject and drew an arrow poking through its head. When Thierry discovered the "act of these vandals" and further discovered that these "vandals were actually exhibiting the work," he was incensed. Despite his own disdain for lawyers, Thierry has decided to take legal action. His action ought to take the form of which of the following?