Category Archives: Intellectual Property

American Farmers Win Right to Repair their John Deere Tractors -Sort of

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The media’s reporting that the American Farm Bureau Federation signed a Memorandum of understanding -or MoU) with the maker of JOHN DEERE tractors to facilitate maintenance and repair of that kind of equipment in the future, without necessarily going through authorized dealers and technicians.

In today’s world, farm tractors are complicated bits of machinery which can no longer be repaired on-site by farmers themselves. All too often, the documentation, information and specialized tools required to perform requisite maintenance or repairs just isn’t available at large, so that the only possibility for farmers is to obtain the services of technicians authorized by John Deere itself. Contrary to how it used to be, a farmer can no longer hope to service his (her) tractor himself (herself), this is simply no longer possible; even calling upon a local mechanic to do so may be problematic as he (she) may not even have all the information, documentation and tools to get the job done.

Now, further to execution of the recent MoU, the manufacturer should make available to John Deere tractor owners documentation, information, specifications and specialized tools (like software) which may be require to allow or facilitate maintenance or repairs on tractors of that make.

Interestingly, the MoU states it does not force John Deere to disclose any confidential information or trade secrets, something that may very well end-up gutting the right to repair, some feel. After all, little prevents a company from claiming things like detailed specifications and documentation are proprietary and/or confidential or secret.

It will be interesting to see how John Deere goes about this, in practice, and the extent to which this kind of right to repair arrangement may spread to other manufacturers, industries or activities, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere like in Canada. In the meantime, at the very least, this is a step in the right direction.

CIPO Proposes a 25% Increase of Governmental Fees for 2024

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The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is proposing to deal with its chronic financial problems by increasing governmental fees in matters of I.P. come next year. The Canadian government is thus proposing to amend the regulations relating to the costs of I.P. matters in Canada. This substantial increase, if indeed adopted, would raise the fees relating to matters such as registration of patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs and trademarks.

As explained in the summary prepared by the government:

CIPO is proposing to adjust most fees by 25% over the 2024 fees to address its current structural deficit situation and return the organization to a position of financial stability. CIPO is also proposing to expand the definition of small entity while maintaining the current patent fees for small entities.

As a result, to give you an idea, the proposed increase would raison the costs associated with trademark application from $330.00 to $458.00 for the first class, and from $100.00 to $139.00 for additional classes. The costs associated with recording assignments would increase from $100.00 to $125.00, etc.

Even though this is only a proposal, it is generally agreed this is likely to sail through and indeed materialize. Come 2024, it seems probable this increase will be adopted and applied.

This is one more good reason not to wait to protect your I.P. rights if you haven’t done so already.

Subscriptions and Increasingly Intangible Intangibles: Where Does it Stop?

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Without wanting to say too much about my age, I was part of the first generation to play computer games as kids. Yeah [says the guys adopting his Grandpa Simpson voice]: Back then, you bought it and could keep playing it ad nauseam, which included table-top games like Monopoly and console games like Pacman on my Atari 2600.

Well, the least one can say is that those days are gone… far gone. In today’s world, the way software and media are increasingly packaged basically did away not only with physical copies but with perpetual licenses altogether, rather turning everything into a something “as a service”.

You want a movie? Blockbuster’s gone, so are most DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, as most everyone turned to the likes of Netflix to watch movies and tv shows. Streaming is now the standard way to go about it. Heck, a friend was recently telling me Disney recently decided to do away with one of their stapes and stop selling copies of their movies on DVDs and the like. From now on (or soon anyway), you want to watch a Disney flick, you catch it in theaters or you stream it on Disney+. That’s it.

I think this speaks volumes about what’s been going on with media over the past 20 years or so. With the advent of the Internet, we collectively realized that no one needs to own… anything, really.

in today’s world, that even extends to software, of course. With quite a few companies discontinuing their apps and desktop software, rather opting to provide an equivalent that you can use through a browser, for example, the very concept of buying something that you control, call your own and can decide to keep around (or not) is quickly disappearing, software-wise anyway.

Of course, once you no longer own it, the producer of software can modify it at will, or even discontinue certain whole functionalities, at which point there’s fairly little you can really do about it. You really liked that cross-cell funky calculation function in that online application? Well, too bad, the producer elected to discontinue it, starting… oh yeah… yesterday. Don’t like it? Too bad for you.

Recently, I even saw this pushed one step further, when I realized a computer I was under the impression I had purchased (ah ah, fool) simply essentially disappeared overnight from STEAM, the widely used gaming platform. Yup, the game editor decided to pull that particular title and, of yeah, the effect was to essentially prevent those who had “purchased” it (or rather thought they did) to access or use it any longer. You liked that game? Too bad, it’s gone.

Heck, I’ve even read about certain car manufacturers abroad “innovating” (see those quotes?), by charging car “buyers” (see em’ again?) a monthly fee for the benefit of certain functionalities in their new vehicles, such as heated seats for $18 a month, etc. Yeah, seems in today’s world, businesses all want in on that subscription model. It’s just too good to pass on, it seems. Anyway, I don’t pretend telling anyone anything about this they didn’t already know. Just slightly amusing (if not outright tragic) to realize this is happening and that there precious little you and I can do about it. It’s just, as they say, the way it goes.