Sally Yoon is an IPilogue Writer and a 3L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

More recently, we have seen digital art open doors for artists to experiment with conceptual artwork like never before. Stijn van Schaik, a second-year Advertising student, on OpenSea, making it the . In addition, hosted Aitken's exhibition in four galleries, allowing visitors to view the exhibition alongside others around the world, within the same virtual space. As a result, are increasingly seen as not just a “referential pointer to the physical but a place of primary experience, worthy of being collected”.

Doug Aitken, installation view of Open on Vortic VR. © Doug Aitken. Courtesy the artist; 303 Gallery, New York; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Victoria Miro, London; and Regen Projects, Los Angeles

Last year, released a 7-part series titled “”, to examine how NFTs affect institutions that collect digital art, and highlighted that NFTs may possibly be the “unifying mechanism” used to package [work] done in the digital space. As well as encouraging the collection of , NFTs are a way for artists to financially benefit from works traditionally non-commodifiable (ex. conceptual or ). But before we all scatter to “NFTize” our souls, we need to address some legal issues surrounding the overall sustainability of digital artworks.

Are smart contracts “smart” enough?

discusses one of the most commendable features of NFTs - the automatic resale royalties. Blockchain smart contracts track payments and distribute a percentage of the resale profits back to artists. However, there are , which include transacting on a marketplace platform on another blockchain, so that the NFT’s smart contract is not notified of the resale. Therefore, keeping collectors transacting on platforms that recognize the existing code triggering the resale royalty remains a constant challenge. For now, the best way to avoid this issue remains a specifically drafted contract with a resale royalties provision, tailored to the individual NFT.

Sustainable Models and Practices for Digital Conservation

A sustainable model will offer benefits to both the artists and the collectors. Allowing for ensures that collectors are committed to the integrity of the resale royalty process and increases the likelihood of the system functioning as it should. Sustainable practices involve the artists’ clear statement about the rights and licences being transferred with the work. Would the artist allow the owner to transfer the work to another platform in the event of blockchain issues or technological obsolescence? Can the owner lend the work to other venues? A digital work's conservation depends on these legal considerations.

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Mona Karimi is a 3L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

If you're a fan of Hip-Hop music, you might just find your favourite artist fighting to protect themselves from their own lyrics. Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Big Sean, others have joined forces to openly endorse the . New York Senators Brad Holyman and Jamaal Bailey drafted the legislation to amend the state's criminal procedure law to strictly limit the admissibility of a defendant's lyrics, videos, or other creative expressions as evidence. The bill argues that musical works being admitted as evidence against artists violates their . However, the issue's racial component prompted Hoylman and Bailey to take action. The Senators reasoned that seldomly do we see lyrics from other genres utilized as evidence in criminal courtrooms, but rap lyrics and videos have been used as evidence in hundreds of cases. States like California have taken a stronger stance on this issue with Gov. Gavin Newson recently signing the Decriminalizing Artistic Expressions Act, effectively restricting the use of rap lyrics in courtrooms.

If you thought this was a foreign practice in Canada, think again. Crown in Canada have also relied upon an accused person's artistic creations, unsurprisingly in the form of rap music, to establish guilt. In the Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in , the Trial Judge permitted the accused's rap music to bolster the Crown's case for first-degree murder and devised a new method for admitting this type of evidence, which suffers from some flaws. The admission of rap lyrics (disproportionately more often than other genres) feeds into racial bias and perpetuates damaging racist stereotypes. In his article, "," University of Windsor Law Professor Tanovich offers a compelling case that when rap lyrics are used in court, their cultural and artistic context is stripped away and substituted with one of apparent legal relevance, which can then be distorted to reinforce racial preconceptions. The criminal justice system in Canada has long struggled with systematic anti-Black racism, and the establishment of practices and egregious bias against certain genres of music that are typically linked to Black culture only serves to exacerbate the problem. Rap lyrics’ admissibility doesn’t just sacrifice art for a quick conviction, but arguably enables a racially discriminatory and biased practice to flourish in the legal system.

Where the Crown can use a person's artistic expression as incriminating evidence, the system risks limiting such expression and clashes with the to foster and promote the enjoyment and production of artistic works and threatens growth in the Canadian music scene both domestically and internationally. Imagine how different your favourite Drake song would be if he had to remove every potentially incriminating lyric. It will be interesting see how the judicial system's particular focus on hip-hop affects how people make music and how these competing objectives, in two different areas of the law, will reconcile.

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Mariela Gutierrez Olivares is a 3L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

Controversy ensued when a Mexican food restaurant in the UK, �ղ���ܱ��í��, issued a  to a similar restaurant, Sonora �ղ���ܱ��í��, for infringement of their registered mark "Taqueria." Yet is Spanish for a place where tacos are sold. Trademarking is akin to trademarking "pizzeria" or "café."

Across social media platforms, what they perceived as an act of ������ (owned by �ղ���ܱ��í�� Worldwide "TW"). A group called MexiBrit even launched which has collected over 100,000 signatures to date, hailing, "The Mexican UK community is outraged and we won't stop until we see justice. Stop the cultural appropriation!" However, Sonora �ղ���ܱ��í�� is not the first business TW's trademark is enforced against. In 2020, TW of their mark and successfully opposed a competitor’s mark, "Taco Ria" claiming it was "visually similar and phonetically and conceptually identical" and would confuse consumers.

Conflicts surrounding marks that many consider generic, descriptive or worse culturally appropriating (or misappropriating) are . The recent �ٲ���ܱ��í�� highlights the following issues in the global trademarks (and IP) regime:

1. The role of trademark examiners interpreting the statutes that grant trademark rights is increasingly challenging in a global economy. In cases like the one here, trademark examiners and officers consider the average consumer's knowledge in the jurisdiction they are acting. Here, a trademark examiner would examine the understanding of the UK public when reviewing the "Taqueria" mark. Presumably, when it was granted in 2004, the mark was not considered generic or descriptive.
2. The use of generic and descriptive marks will inevitably cause harm. Owners who invest resources to build a reputation suffer when they have to discontinue use of a mark. Inversely, non-owner users who become excluded from using a term where no other exists also suffer. Here, TW could choose to surrender its mark, but not without facing a considerable financial setback – forfeiting the investment made to build its name and re-distinguishing its business under a new name. Sonora �ղ���ܱ��í�� and others who wish to defend their use of the mark must also spend their resources and potentially face more significant losses if those actions fail.
3. Protecting traditional and cultural heritage requires adequate legal tools. Whether "Taqueria" ought to remain a generic term available for anyone to use in their business name is a legal question. Though various have called for the , legal tools to determine how such protection is to be accomplished are lacking. Despite the moral reprehension associated with , legally-binding solutions are few and far between, left to each jurisdiction.

Trademarks indicate the source of a product or service. Where intellectual property rights (including trademarks) exist, accusations of cultural appropriation are insufficient to cancel or invalidate those rights. All things considered, more �ٲ���ܱ��í��s means more tacos and that is a great problem for the UK and the world to solve.

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Mona Karimi is a 3L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

My internship at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (“ISED”) started long before the semester actually began. ISED works with Canadians in all sectors of the economy and across Canada to create a more favourable environment for investment, strengthen Canada's innovation capacity, boost the country's share of international commerce, and create a market that is efficient, fair, and competitive. Eighteen federal departments and agencies make up the ISED portfolio. I had the pleasure of working with the Copyright and Trademark Policy Directorate Marketplace Framework Policy Branch. A mouthful, I know, but fitting for the highly impactful work they do. The Marketplace Framework Policy Branch is mandated to develop and coordinate policies, laws and regulations concerning corporate and insolvency law, foreign investment, competition, copyright, trademarks and industrial design, patents, and data protection.

So why did I start preparing for my internship months in advance? ISED’s work can deeply impact any industry or marketplace and requires a high degree of confidentiality and security. How high? You need Secret Clearance Level II. This was not a quick criminal check, it required a lot more detail and took months. So long in fact, I did not receive my clearance until almost two months into my placement. I was a little worried for a bit there about what they might find. Of course, I had nothing to hide, but you never know!

While I can’t speak too much about my work for security reasons (I’ve always wanted to say that), I can say that my MBA my approach to policy analysis.  At the Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, I witnessed consultations with a myriad of stakeholders for drafting policies. I have come across something similar during my MBA when I was being taught Edward Freeman's Stakeholder Theory. According to the stakeholder theory, a firm's stakeholders comprise pretty much everyone who is impacted by the firm and how it operates. Although this theory refers to an organization, the same can be applied to a policy, regulation, or legislation. While, it may seem like common sense to make sure to get perspectives from impacted when drafting policies, it’s not always that simple. Identifying all the impacted groups is one task but identifying who should be consulted out of those groups is another. It prompted questions such as, ‘why should this organization speak for the entire group?’, and ‘are we consulting with all the voices represented?’.

I witnessed the collaborative nature of policy work. No one person can capture everything. On quite a few occasions, I thought I understood the reach of a legislation’s impact only to be enlightened by a question another team member posed, a question I had never even considered. It reminded me to employ the following strategies I learned from my MBA Strategy courses. When posed with a problem and/or question, we often kick-start our brains to find a solution as fast as we can. We attribute so much of being a good employee to being able to find a solution before someone else. However, we seldom pause and ask if we are asking the right questions and if the problem is stated correctly. We accept the problem as it was posed. If the problem is not stated correctly, the solutions would not address the real problem. One strategy I learned in that course was to ask, ‘what assumptions am I making and are they valid?’. You learn a lot when you challenge your own assumptions whenever you approach an issue.

That’s the beauty of diverse perspectives, they ignite deep discussions that may be missed if everyone had the same perspective. Unfortunately, much of law school is an isolated experience; but in practice, the law is extremely collaborative. Through the clinics, mooting and intensives like this one, you really get to experience the collaborative nature of legal work before embarking into that world after you graduate. If you would like to sharpen that skill and have an interest in IP, this intensive is for you!

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Richard de Almeida is a 3L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

This semester, as part of Osgoode’s Intellectual Property Law & Technology Intensive Program, I had the pleasure of participating in a 10-week internship at Teva Canada (“Teva”), a (mainly) generics pharmaceutical company, and it was the highlight of my tenure thus far at Osgoode.

Heading into the program, I had one main goal: to know what it’s like to truly practice law. Frankly, after two years in law school, I feel like I know the general schema of academically learning any new type of law. You start with the legislation, fill in the gaps with the caselaw, and get some secondary commentary to critique and make unique arguments around the current framework. Working at Teva has given me this experience of feeling like a real practicing lawyer and so much more.

Within minutes of working there, I was already growing in my legal development from being academically into practically trained as I learned about my supervisor’s door policy, to protect Teva’s confidentiality in all dealings. As obvious as it sounds in hindsight, his door policy really opened my eyes. In law school’s academic setting, we always learned the importance of confidentiality and the implications of failing that duty. But it was always presented as a mistake we’d make intentionally, or at least explicitly. I never realized how something as simple as a door policy can give life to these principles. It was the perfect microcosm to exemplify the difference between learning and practicing the law, which was exactly what I was looking for.

Throughout the term, I continued to have these realizations. In the patent law textbook, we learned about filing and expiry dates of patents in one chapter, and grounds for invalidity in another. In practice, these two are connected. Teva can never rely on a patent expiry date as another generic may be in litigation to invalidate that patent tomorrow, in which case Teva would be too behind to launch their own version of the medicine if they weren’t paying attention to the litigation within the industry. This integration of patent law concepts also demonstrated the interplay between business and the law as the legal department’s vigilance on these matters was crucial to business success.

This is where the learning experience truly took off. Not only did I learn what it meant to be a practising lawyer, but also what it meant to be an in-house counsel. If you’re someone who likes to juggle multiple tasks at a time, in-house counsel is the way to go as I saw my supervisor, Ben Gray, who is Vice-President and General Counsel of Teva, manage a multitude of tasks. From meetings with the Canadian Generics Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA), Teva’s industry association to discuss policy goals to ensure Teva and the generic industry’s future, to dealing with Health Canada policy changes implicating the importation of drug products, to understanding the litigation landscape, to managing internal conflicts such as human resource or product liability suits; the list and tasks to do are both endlessly engaging and vital to the entire business.

I also had the privilege of making contract amendments and drafting an entirely new contract through “Canadianizing” an American reference contract. I participated in a settlement negotiation. I attended a patent law Colloquium that Teva sponsors at University of Toronto. I also had the pleasure of speaking to and working with Teva’s External Counsel at firms like Osler and Aitken Klee whose expertise on PM(NOC) litigation was enriching.

Lastly what I most appreciated from the Intensive experience was the kindness and support from everyone at Teva. Sometimes playing catch-up can make you feel like you’re burdening the team, but everyone was willing to teach me with genuine excitement which was so precious to my experience. I am so grateful to everyone I worked with at Teva as well as Professor Pina D’Agostino and Ashley Moniz for providing and administrating this valuable and essential program. The skills I have developed over my internship will assuredly help me in my legal career and I will always be proud to say I was an Intensive alumnus.

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Sally Yoon is an IPilogue Writer and a 3L JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

Growing up playing the violin and developing a deep appreciation for the performing arts, I made it clear from the get-go that was where I wanted to be for my 10-week placement. SOCAN is Canada’s largest member-based rights management organization, connecting more than 4 million creators and publishers worldwide and ensuring that they are compensated for their work.

I joined the team at SOCAN at an exciting time – after a long hiatus, the organization was revving up to start in-person events again. By the end of my first week, I signed up to volunteer at the 2022 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) Gala, where I had the opportunity to greet Canadian talent and feel the rush of all the coordination that happens backstage. I also participated in SOCAN’s first in-person Town Hall since the pandemic and listened to a special performance from the unbelievably talented . Attending these events early into my internship served as a nice exposure to the glitz and glamour of the music Industry and helped me develop an appreciation for the work done behind the scenes by SOCAN to support its members.

As an intern, I never felt short of tasks, and I found that this reflected the dynamic nature of the music market. On some days, I was looking into two-decade-old decisions from Copyright Board to make sense of particular rates today, and on other days I was doing research on to-be-released subscription plans for video-on-demand services. Moreover, on top of learning about SOCAN’s tariffs, I also conducted research on dozens of foreign PRO (performance rights organisation) concert/festival tariffs to see how they differ from each other. Whether it was something from the past, something about to happen in the future or something happening abroad, I learned something new about the music market every day, and I felt like I got a glimpse of the complexities that SOCAN's counsels must be mindful of. Understanding this made it easier to put myself in the shoes of an in-house counsel and find ways to present my research so that it is easily digestible to someone juggling a dozen tasks all at once.

Midway through my internship, I was fortunate enough to observe a rare, virtual hearing on online music services. It was interesting to hear the issues raised by both SOCAN and music services, and the questions raised by the Board in an attempt to better understand the situation and find a solution. It was a pleasant surprise to see the virtual hearing room filled with IP Osgoode alumni, which demonstrated the program's effectiveness in launching its students to fulfilling careers. During my internship, I always felt supported by other IP Osgoode alumni, as well as the entire legal team at SOCAN. The team was always there to guide me when I felt stumped, and it was a good reminder of the priceless value of good mentorship and collegiality in the workplace.

My favourite memory is watching the CSHF Gala rehearsal backstage with other event volunteers at Massey Hall. As we watched SOCAN members take over the stage - singing, dancing, and interacting with the band - some remarked, “I don't know how they do it”. Completing my internship, it is clear to me that all the hard work SOCAN does behind the scenes enables the members to carry on and do what they do best.

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Tushar Sharma is a 3L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

My name is Tushar Sharma, and I did my IP Intensive internship with VentureLAB, one of Canada’s premier technology incubators and a non-profit organization that supports start-ups throughout the early stages of their growth.

I joined the IP Intensive Program with the hopes that I would be able to work with VentureLAB, having a keen interest in venture capital work, technology, and intellectual property. This opportunity seemed like the perfect blend of all three and spoke to how I would like to practice law in the future. Needless to say, I had high expectations going into the experience because of how keen I was about the subject matter.

From the first day I had my expectations exceeded in every way. My initial introduction with my supervisor Josée was incredibly warm, open, and made me feel very welcome. She supplemented this introduction with having me sit in on one-on-one sessions with VentureLAB clients from the very first week of the placement. I was not expecting to be meeting directly with clients this early, or honestly at all given my limited experience, but Josée had enough confidence in my abilities to let me participate, and even offer my opinion to clients when I had something to say and felt comfortable. My supervisor’s confidence in my abilities helped me develop my own confidence in this arena, and I slowly began to become more comfortable talking to clients and offering IP advice as my experience grew.

As I spoke on earlier, I am interested in, and hope to practice, in the intersection of intellectual property and venture capital. This experience opened my eyes to the direct needs of start-ups, and the best way to serve their interests. As their resources are limited and they do not often have a breadth of legal knowledge, start-ups tend to be IP agnostic, or at least unsure of the best ways to develop and implement a viable IP strategy. I think this is something that is often missed by lawyers, based on conversations with lawyers, and in order to best serve clients, I need to understand their struggles and also understand that every start-up is particular in their needs. Being able to be flexible, knowledgeable, and considerate will help me serve clients better, and those are exactly the skills I developed throughout my internship with VentureLAB.

The intellectual property department at VentureLAB is fairly small relative to other internships in the IP Intensive program, but I think I preferred it to be organized in this manner. This gave me a lot more one-on-one time with my supervisor, and it created an environment where we could lean on one another, bounce ideas off each other, and work through intellectual property issues plaguing clients as a team. What really helped this process was how much Josée respected me, valued my opinions, and took in what I had to offer despite her having vastly more experience than me in this arena. Josée understood that, as a law student, I tackle issues from a different perspective from her and she would often look to me for a legal perspective, which clients often found valuable (with the explicit caveat that nothing either of us stated was legal advice in any way, shape or form). Moreover, this allowed me to learn and absorb techniques that my supervisor used in breaking down complicated IP processes into palatable information sessions. Being able to learn and observe how the IP was structured at VentureLAB gave me a holistic understanding of effective IP strategization at a successful enterprise.

Outside of my direct IP experience with VentureLAB, the team at the company is phenomenal and their familial culture makes it easy to integrate and feel like a part of the team, even in the short amount of time I was there. VentureLAB is filled with people who are willing to learn, teach, work hard, and have fun. I never had a negative experience with any of my colleagues, and I believe I have built lifelong connections with some of my peers there. My experience was also enhanced by the fact that I was able to participate in VentureLAB’s premier annual conference on Canadian hardware innovation, HardTech. Given the breadth of knowledge and experience on the team, I was able to learn a lot during my placement, and this experience has been invaluable to my growth and future career as a lawyer.

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Nikita Munjal is a 3L JD/MBA Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

I loved my placement with the (CBC).

Walking to the Toronto office on the first day of my placement, I felt nervous about whether I’d fit in with the seasoned legal team. Like most of my law school experience, I had worked myself up over nothing. The warm welcome I received from the lovely legal assistants, Justine and Celena, and my placement supervisor, Dan Ciraco, made me feel like a valuable member of the team. That feeling never faded during my 10-week placement, and a key reason for my positive experience is the thoughtful guidance and mentorship I received from Dan and my lawyer mentors.

My placement with CBC was possible due to Osgoode Hall Law School’s (IP Intensive). Pioneered by Osgoode , the IP Intensive is an innovative program that places third-year JD students in an organization heavily involved in IP matters. The first two weeks of the program function as a “boot camp” by introducing students to the fundamental aspects of IP and technology law. Immediately after, students are ushered off to their placements, allowing them to develop their interpersonal and practical legal research and writing skills. As I reflect on my experience, I can honestly say participating in the IP Intensive has been the highlight of my time at Osgoode. 

At the beginning of each week, I was assigned a mentor from either the Business Law or Media Law Group. I spent time with the Media Law Group learning about the importance of the open-court principle, drafting submissions to the Federal Court, vetting stories, conducting legal research on the responsible communication defence, and attending a trial at the Federal Court of Appeal.

One of my most memorable experiences with the media lawyers occurred during my second week when I joined a call with the executive producers of an upcoming Fifth Estate documentary. I learned how to evaluate scripts to determine the level of legal risks accompanying a story by listening to the lawyers ask questions about the investigative process. Watching the documentary evolve from the initial script to the final screener, I gained an appreciation for the role CBC’s in-house counsel plays in supporting journalists to tell stories in the public’s interest.

I tailored my experience with the Business Law Group reviewing contracts, drafting amendments, and conducting research interpreting specific contractual provisions. A significant highlight for me was learning about contractual drafting and negotiation from my mentors. Contract drafting, I realized, can be a very personal exercise. Lawyers’ drafting choices can sometimes explain the minute changes between two contracts rather than reflecting any developments in case law. One of the most important lessons I learned from the business law team was navigating complex issues with no clear legal answer. We’re taught how to think like lawyers in law school, but the issues we solve are hypothetical. In practice, your clients still require solutions to their problems even if the law is unclear or unhelpful. Finding solutions to novel issues involves delicately balancing business knowledge, capital constraints, and the interests of different stakeholders.

As you can see, my placement taught me a lot about practicing law. However, the aspect of my internship I will treasure the most is the mentorship the lawyers provided me. I got to experience the best of both worlds by having a hybrid internship. I would try to coordinate my days in the office with my Toronto mentors, so we could go out for lunch or have impromptu chats in the hallway. My Montreal and Vancouver mentor’s enthusiasm and virtual check-ins never made me feel like I was missing out. Thinking back to a time before hybrid workplaces, it seems surreal that I might have never gotten to work with them.

I want to thank Professor D’Agostino and Ashley Moniz for securing placements and providing students with experiential experience early in their legal careers. I’d also like to extend my gratitude to my CBC supervisor, Dan Ciraco, and my lawyer mentors – Kat, Trevor, Danielle, Azim, Stephanie, Eve, Stephany, and Marguerite – for providing me with such a positive experience. If you are considering applying for the IP Intensive, I highly recommend choosing CBC for your placement.

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Mac Mok is an IP Innovation Clinic Senior Fellow and a 3L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

This semester, I participated in Osgoode’s Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Technology Intensive program (IP Intensive). The IP Intensive starts with a 2 week seminar series where students are exposed to a variety of IP related topics, followed by a 10 week placement at an organization to allow students to gain working experience. Students also meet biweekly to discuss current IP issues.

The 2 week seminar series provided an amazing crash course on all things IP, covering topics on patents, trademarks, copyright and industrial design, IP prosecution and litigation, as well as IP commercialization. We were also treated to seminars that seemed more science-fiction than law, where we discussed the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), and law in space. The seminar series was given by experienced IP practitioners, academics, company founders and public servants working in government, which provided me with different perspectives of the IP ecosystem. The seminar series not only gave me a working knowledge base of IP, but it was also a horizon-broadening experience that sparked my interest in areas of law that I had not previously heard of nor considered as a career path.

For my 10-week placement, I had the opportunity to join a branch of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO).  CIPO is a special operating agency of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), which delivers IP services in Canada. Specifically, I joined the Policy, International Affairs, and Research Office (PIRO), which provides advice, guidance and representation on policy, regulatory, international and economic issues to CIPO’s Executive Office and senior management, as well as the Deputy Minister and Minister of ISED.

My work was primarily to conduct research. On my very first week, I was invited to propose my own research project and to select from a list of topics that were of interest to PIRO. This was a wonderful opportunity, as I was given the freedom to explore areas of IP that I found particularly interesting. I decided to explore the topic of IP asset valuation, a field that was recognized long ago by the international IP community as an important aspect of the IP field but remains a challenging feat to perform even today. As I started my research, I quickly realized this project required a multidisciplinary team to complete. Luckily for me, PIRO had a highly collaborative environment. My supervisor was extremely supportive of my research efforts and helped me connect with experts from other branches of CIPO so that I could conduct my research. My work would have been far inferior without these fruitful discussions. I was also able to interview a company founder whom I met during the IP Intensive seminar series to gain their perspective on IP valuation. This was my first experience of performing stake-holder outreach and was a valuable experience.

In addition to my research, I also had the opportunity to prepare briefing packages for the executive office and assisted in drafting a CIPO report. These exercises gave me a glimpse into the inner workings of a government office and what it is like to be a public servant.

While working at CIPO, I also had the opportunity to attend many educational seminars that were hosted by ISED’s Intellectual Property Center of Expertise (IPCoE), the Federal Intellectual Property Partnership and CIPO’s Corporate Strategies and Services branch. These seminars provided me with valuable IP knowledge, such as how to approach managing an IP asset. I also learned about the unique challenges that public servants face when interacting with IP, as well as the exciting research conducted by CIPO that directs policy decisions.

In addition to my valuable experience at CIPO, the IP Intensive also gave me the chance to attend two conferences focusing on Disruptive technologies and AI: the 2022 CAN-TECH Law Annual Conference, and the Bracing for Impact: The Future of AI in Society Conference. These full day conferences offered perspectives on leading technology, law and IP issues and an opportunity to connect with industry professionals.

My IP Intensive experience has been wonderful. Not only did I get the chance to perform work in a welcoming and supportive environment that is CIPO, and attend eye opening conferences, but I also made connections and memories that I will treasure as I move forward in my legal career.

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Cynthia Zhang is a 3L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. This article was written as a requirement for Prof. Pina D’Agostino’s IP Intensive Program.

As a student of Osgoode’s Intellectual Property Law and Technology Intensive for the Fall 2022 semester, I had the opportunity to complete an internship placement at Ontario’s public educational broadcaster, TVO. Most people who, like me, grew up in Ontario in the 90s-2000s likely consider after school snacks and a core memory. Besides its classic properties like Polkaroo and Today’s Special, TVO also produces The Agenda, a current affairs daily, and offers accredited educational services and products. I was a member of the Legal Services and Business Affairs team under the supervision of Patricia Cavalhier, Director of Legal Services at TVO.

I was pleased to be able to attend onsite two days each week. Besides TVO offices, the building at 2180 Yonge also houses TVO’s studios, editing and content production facilities. I tagged along on a site tour with a group of new hires and was able to see some archival sets and props, the costume department, editing studios, as well as the sets of The Agenda and other TVO in-house productions. The industry-specific ecosystem is one notable difference between a role as in-house counsel versus a practitioner in a law firm.

By far the most engaging project I worked on during my placement was the publication of a set of official marks for TVO. I was fortunate to have begun my internship at the same time as the rollout of an organizational rebrand. This resulted in new logo designs and new programming branding, all of which needed to be protected via a trademark-related process. Official marks are a system unique to Canada and operate pursuant to section 9(1)(n)(iii) of the Trademarks Act, RSC 1985, c T-13. They are “published” by the Registrar of Trademarks as opposed to being “registered” like trademarks. They can only be owned by a public authority, an organization under substantial government control that provides a public benefit, such as TVO. The actual process of publishing official marks is very different to obtaining registration of a trademark. I was surprised to find that the feat could be accomplished simply by sending a one-page request form to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). This would then need to be followed up with proof of public authority and proof of use or public display of the mark itself.

Additionally, I discovered that it was quite easy to speak with a trademark examiner at CIPO to receive advice on section 9 procedure. I was able to interact with the examiner via both email and phone, and he was very accessible and willing to help on multiple occasions. Having worked in an accounting setting which involved constant interaction with CRA, this level of approachability from a government entity came as a shock to me.

Prior to law school, I worked in an entertainment context in various capacities but without experience in broadcast media. My placement at TVO taught me how such an organization functions internally. I spent time with acquisitions officers and understood their day-to-day processes, including how licensing agreements are generated and negotiated, something which I had only experienced from the opposite party’s perspective during my summer law student roles. I was also interested to learn of some unique considerations for this type of broadcaster, including stringent compliance with Canadian Media Fund requirements regarding fund allocation, programming characteristics, and diversity and inclusion.

Toward the end of my placement, I found it gratifying to be able to design a “best practices” guideline for TVO’s content team regarding IP considerations and social media. I learned that although content production staff generally understands the wide strokes of copyright and trademark, they can still easily get caught up on nuances which could result in a claim of infringement or similar. I was able to compose a guideline that provided points to be mindful of and specific advice on use of Creative Commons licensed content, including careful attribution. I left feeling as if I had contributed concretely to the operation of the organization, at least in this small way.

My internship at TVO gave me beneficial insight into the daily life of in-house counsel as well as how a broadcast media organization operates in the changing media landscape today. It is clear that TVO is embracing and exploring different avenues for the future of their business, as is evident from their recent partnerships with popular brands like and the . I am grateful to Professor Pina D’Agostino and my supervisor for making this experience happen.

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