Global pop star singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran won a copyright case over his 2017 hit song Shape of You on Wednesday 6 April 2022 in the U.K. High Court.

The plaintiff Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch, alleged that Sheeran’s 2017 hit Shape of You is “indisputably similar” with Chokri’s 2015 song Oh Why and that Sheeran and his co-writers had Chokri’s song in their heads “consciously or unconsciously” when they wrote Shape of You. You can listen to Shape of You at this link and Chokri’s Oh Why at this link.

Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that the refrain “Oh I, Oh I, Oh I” in the chorus of Shape of You was “strikingly similar” to the line “Oh why, Oh why, Oh why” in their track.

The plaintiff’s argument failed to persuade High Court Judge Antony Zacaroli, who dismissed the plaintiff’s case and held that Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied any phrase from Chokri’s Oh Why when writing Shape of You. Sheeran welcomed the ruling and publicly condemned the plaintiff’s action as part of culture of baseless lawsuits intended to extort settlement money out of artists who fear the expense and emotional toll of a trial.

For the full story, read here.

As part of Western sanctions against Russia for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced an end to the Global Patent Prosecution Highway partnership with the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent).  The Global Patent Prosecution Highway allows for the expedited examination of Canadian patent applications where the claims of that application sufficiently correspond to the claims of an application allowed in one of the other partnering jurisdictions.  CIPO will no longer accelerate examination for requests based on work by Rospatent as the Office of Earlier Examination, including for pending applications that were previously accelerated.

For the full statement, please click here.

In acknowledgement of International Women’s Day on March 8^th, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (the “CIPO”), the United States Intellectual Property Office, and other intellectual property offices issued a statement entitled “Gender Equality for a Sustainable Tomorrow”. Through such statement the participating intellectual property offices stated that they “commit to work together to support increased contributions from women in developing, commercializing, and distributing innovations and creative works in order to achieve a more sustainable and hope- driven future”.

Read the statement here.

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) recently registered a copyright for an artistic work where one of two co-authors is an artificial intelligence (AI) program. This appears to be the first time an AI has been recognized as an author of a copyrighted work by the CIPO. The registration is for an artistic work titled “SURYAST” (Registration No. 1188619) and lists both Ankit Sahni and RAGHAV Artificial Intelligence Painting App as co-authors.

While it is yet to be seen whether an AI can be the sole author in a copyright registration in the CIPO, the “SURYAST” registration is a notable development in the area of AI and intellectual property rights.

Source: IPPractice

To learn more about (and to view) “SURYAST”, please see this IP Osgoode blog post.

The Federal Court considered the current section 56 of the Patent Act on prior user rights for the first time in Kobold Corporation v NCS Multistage Inc, 2021 FC 1437. The current subsection 56(1) was amended in December 2018 and provides that if a person committed an act before the claim date that would have otherwise constituted an infringement, it is not an infringement if the person commits that “same act” on or after the claim date. The key question was what does the “same act” mean?

The Court concluded that “same” means that the pre-and post-patent acts must be identical (vs. the less stringent “substantially the same” standard referred to in the other prior use defences under subsections 56(6) & (9)). For example, if a person only manufactured and used the patented invention pre-patent, then they can continue manufacturing and using it post-patent, but cannot sell it because selling was not an act done pre-patent. In addition, the relevant part of the invention (i.e. the inventive concept) must also be identical.

In a press release published on February 10, 2022, WIPO announced the number of international filings for patents, trademarks and designs for the past year.  Despite the pandemic, the number of filings for 2021 reached record-setting levels.  As Daren Tang, WIPO’s Director General noted, “Although COVID-19 related restrictions have kept humans and families apart, it cannot stop the worldwide movement of fresh ideas, innovative products and new services”.

International patent applications filed using WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty system grew by 0.9%, with China leading the way, followed by the U.S., Japan, the Republic of Korea and Germany.

The Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks saw an increase of 14.4% in trademark filings.  The largest number of international trademark applications are from U.S. based applicants, followed by those located in Germany, China and France.

Despite a decline in the previous year, the filing of industrial designs via the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs saw a 20.8% increase in 2021.  Germany remains the largest user of the Hague System, with the U.S. and Italy coming in second and third.

Read more here.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Digital Access Service (DAS) allows for simple and secure electronic exchange of priority patent applications between participating intellectual property offices of different jurisdictions. The DAS system greatly simplifies the exchange of priority patent applications and eliminates the need to request paper certified copies (certified copies may still be required for non-participating jurisdictions). As of February 1, 2022, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is a DAS depositing office for patent applications. Requests to have a newly filed Canadian patent application uploaded to the DAS system can be made at the time of filing or after filing (through an online form).

Read more here.