Canada mint claims copyright on flower

[Pabitra]

See

https://www.asiapacific.ca/news/canadian-mint-take-australian-counterparts-court-over

Does it make any sense?

[eurocoin]

I think the title of this topic is a bit strange. Royal Canadian Mint does not at all claim the copyright (on the image of) a flower. As becomes clear in the article, according to the Royal Canadian Mint the Royal Australian Mint has without permission made use of their intellectual property (patent) on the colour printing of coins. The particular patent can be found here.

The coin this is all about can be seen above. The lawsuit is only about its coloured version, which was never issued into circulation. The coloured coins were sold by the Royal Australian Mint and the Returned & Services League of Australia. I think Royal Canadian Mint's demand about the coins having to be returned to the mint and having to be destroyed or handed over to them does not stand any chance.

Clearly this lawsuit is a test of the Royal Canadian Mint to see how far they can get and to set a precedent for possible future cases. Royal Canadian Mint refused to reply what the decision in this case will mean for other coloured coins of the Royal Australian Mint.

[andyg]

There is a longer article here;
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/royal-canadian-mint-sues-royal-australian-mint-in-row-over-printing-of-red-poppies

Does seem it's only the 2012 poppy coin they have issue with at the moment - although as has been pointed out the method of printing of, rather than the poppy itself.

The Canadian mint would not comment on whether it may seek further damages from the production of other colourful coins. “The court documents define the scope of our claim. We can’t say anything else while the matter is before the courts,”

[Pabitra]

But then, one should not forget that Australia has been issuing coloured coins for quite some time.

When did Canadian mint patent the process or copyright a natural product?

Patent laws vary from country to country. In some countries, it is the process patent a
Whereas in other countries, it is the product patent.

If Canadians claim product patent then all coloured coins will fall under it, including the European 2 Euros, coloured variations of which are sold by all mints.

[andyg]

If Canadians claim product patent then all coloured coins will fall under it, including the European 2 Euros, coloured variations of which are sold by all mints.

It's the method of printing on the 2012 $2 they are claiming breaches copyright - rather than all printed coins.

[andyg]

from the article,

The statement of claim clarifies that the Canadian mint first applied for a patent on a “method of printing an image on a metallic surface, particularly on a coin surface” in 2006. The patent was open for public inspection from 2007 and granted in 2013.

[malj1]

See details of the coin here

[Pabitra]

Patent granted in 2013 but coin was issued in 2012.
Do patent rights become effective with retrospective effect?

[eurocoin]

Some new details have now emerged:

In 2015 a representative of Royal Canadian Mint already contacted the Royal Australian Mint to solve the problem informally, that was to no avail. After that both parties met each other at the World Money Fair 2016 to try to solve the issue which was to no avail too. Royal Australian Mint claims the colouring method they use is sufficiently different.

Last month the Royal Canadian Mint expanded the scope of the legal case with 5 other Australian coins that according to them infringed their patent too. The 5 coins being 2 more Remembrance Day coins and the 3 coloured Possum Magic 2 Dollars coins that were issued last year. In contrary to the Remembrance Day coin pictured a few messages above, these pieces were in fact issued into circulation through the tills of the Woolworths supermarkets. The Royal Canadian Mint demands the remaining coins at the mint to be destroyed and wants to prevent them from being issued into circulation.

[redlock]

Very interesting information. Thanks for sharing.

[Pabitra]

Finally, the dispute fizzles out

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/canadian-and-australian-mints-resolve-legal-battle-over-possum-magic-remembrance-day-coins