Overview of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Canada

OverviewofAugmentedReality
andVirtualRealityinCanada

GabrielSt-Laurent
ROBIC,LLP
Lawyer

Thefieldofaugmentedrealityandvirtualrealityisonaroll.Afterthehighlyanticipated
releaseoftheOculusRiftheadsetfromtheAmericancompanyOculusVRandthehuge
(albeitshort-lived)popularityoftheaugmentedrealityapplicationPokémonGo!,several
applicationsusingthesetechnologieshavebeenlaunchedonthemarket.
Asaresultofthemanyadvancesmadebythesetechnologiesinrecentyears,thishas
becomeaboomingfield.Moreandmorecompaniesareaimingtojumpin,hopingto
developwhatwillbeseenasthenextgreatinnovativeapplication–inafieldinwhich
innovationnecessarilymeansintellectualproperty!
Intellectualpropertyanditsrelatedrightsareanundeniableassetforanydesignerwishing
tocaptureashareofthismarket.Wewillthereforegiveabriefoverviewofsomeofthe
pitfallstoavoidwhendevelopingapplicationsordevicesthatusethesetechnologies.

Copyright
Themostimportantelementwhenitcomestocopyrightandapplicationsforaugmented
realityandvirtualrealitytechnologiesisundoubtedlythesoftware.Thisisprotectedunder
theCopyrightActthroughitssourcecode,whichisthecodewritteninsuchawayasto
beunderstoodbyahumanbeing,thattheActequateswithaliterarywork.
Tofacilitatethedevelopmentofsoftwareforusewithdifferentplatforms,somecompanies
offersoftwaredevelopmentkits(SDKs)adaptedtotheirproducts.However,thereare
manycontractualrulesgoverningtheuseofthesekits.Itisthereforeimportantthatanyone
wishingtousethembefullyawareofthescopeoftherightstheyconferand,more
importantly,beabletodeterminewhoistheownerofthecopyrightintheresulting
applicationsandwhatthepermissibleusesare.

2

Patents
Patentapplicationsrelatedtoaugmentedrealityandvirtualrealitytechnologiescanbeput
intotwobroadcategories.Ontheonehand,therearepatentsforthedevicesand
accessoriesneededtousethesetechnologies,suchasheadsets,glovesandsmart
goggles.Thesecangenerallyberegisteredmoreeasily,providedtheinventionisnew,
inventiveanduseful.
Ontheotherhand,therearepatentapplicationsforsoftwareusedintheimplementation
ofanapp.ThesearemoreproblematicbecauseofthestateofthelawinCanada.
AlthoughthereisnoprovisioninthePatentActprohibitingthepatentingofsoftware,
section27(8)doesprovidethat”nopatentshallbegrantedforanymerescientificprinciple
orabstracttheorem.”Inlightofthisprovision,Canadiancourtshavelongrefusedtogrant
patentsonwhattheyhaveconsideredtobemeremathematicalformulas.
Nevertheless,itseemsthatthewindshiftedin2011followingthedecisionoftheFederal
CourtofAppealinthecaseofCanada(AttorneyGeneral)v.Amazon.com,Inc.1Inits
decision,writtenbyJudgeSharlow,theCourtconfirmedthatsoftwarecouldbepatentable
totheextentthatitwasnot”merelyadisembodiedideaandmeetsthecriterionrequiring
achangeinthenatureorconditionofaphysicalobject.”2
Despitethissmallglimmerofhope,softwarepatentabilityinCanadaneverthelessremains
asituationthatmustbeassessedonacase-by-casebasistodeterminewhethera
physicalelementistiedtothesoftwareinvention.Aprofessional’sopinionistherefore
stronglysuggestedforanyonewishingtoobtainapatentforsoftwareinconnectionwith
augmentedrealityandvirtualrealitytechnologies.

Trademarks
Thesituationwithregardtotrademarksisalsotricky.Whendealingwithtrademarksused
inconnectionwithaugmentedrealityandvirtualrealityapps,whatshouldbemadeoftheir
inclusioninvirtualworlds,andwhatdistinctionsshouldbemadebetweenarealobject
andavirtualobject?
Canthepresenceofaregisteredtrademarkonavirtualelementactuallyberegardedas
aviolationoftherightsheldbytheownerofthatmark?Furthermore,canthe”use”ofa
third-party’strademarkinavirtualworldbeconsideredatrademarkusewithinthe
meaningofsection4oftheTrademarksAct?TheseareissuesthatCanadiancourtshave
not(yet)hadtoaddress.Thatbeingsaid,itisasafebetthatwiththegrowingpopularity
ofaugmentedrealityandvirtualrealityapplications,andgiventhesubstantialprofitsthey
generate,theseissueswillnotremainoutstandingformuchlonger.
Cautionwouldsuggestthatanyonewishingtocreateanapprelatedtoaugmentedreality
andvirtualrealitytechnologiesshouldensuretheydonotincludetrademarksownedby
thirdpartieswithoutpriorauthorization.Asintheworldofconventionaltelevision
1Canada(AttorneyGeneral)v.Amazon.com,Inc.,2011FCA328.2Louis-PierreGravelle&Jean-FrançoisJournault,«Protectiondesjeuxvidéo:lapropriétéintellectuelleen
modemultijoueur»,Développementsrécentsendroitdelapropriétéintellectuelle,Cowansville,ÉditionsYvon
Blais,2012,p.164,online:https://edoctrine.caij.qc.ca/developpements-recents/357/368099942/#infos.

3

production,designersofgamesoraugmentedrealityandvirtualrealityappswilllikelyuse
advertisinginthenextfewyearstogeneraterevenuesforlargerprojects,ratherthanrisk
prosecutionfortheuseofunauthorizedmarks.

Lastword
Whileaugmentedrealityandvirtualrealitytechnologieshaveexperienceddramaticgrown
inrecentyears,wearefarfromreachingthelimitationsthatthesetechnologiescanoffer.
Indeed,somecompaniesarecurrentlydevelopingnewapplicationsrelatedtothesenses
ofsight(eye-tracking),voice(voicerecognition)andtouch(haptictechnology).
Assuredly,thisfieldisonethatwilltakeoffintheyearstocome.Thatbeingsaid,itremains
essentialforanyonewishingtodevelopappsrelatedtothesetechnologiestohavean
understandingofthevariousintellectualpropertyinvolved,ifonlytoensurethattheyhold
alltherightsfortheproductsmakinguptheircreations,andalsoinordertoavoidlong,
andquitepossiblycostly,legalproceedings