Question 1

Lodown Ltd.,a company created by Mr.Day,became very successful over its 10-year history.The company was run by Day,as president,and three vice-presidents (Martin,Mull,and Rand)who made up the executive board.At their last meeting,Mr.Day announced that he had confidential information to share with them-namely,that his wife was terminally ill,that he was withdrawing from active management for an indefinite period of time,and that he would transfer his responsibilities to Martin.Rand repeated this information to others,and by so doing,caused the company to lose a lucrative contract being negotiated and caused Day personal embarrassment and monetary loss in his personal affairs.Given these facts,which of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

Rand as a vice-president of the company owes a fiduciary duty to the company. By repeating Day's confidential information to others, he breached that duty and caused the company to suffer a loss. The fact that the information was not a trade secret is not relevant to the breach of fiduciary duty. Therefore, the company would have an action against Rand.

Question 2

Which of the following is true with regard to the copyright law in Canada?

Accepted Answer

In Canada, an author automatically acquires copyright protection upon the creation of her work, and the copyright law is governed by the Copyright Act. There is no requirement for registration to acquire copyright. However, registration may be beneficial in some cases as it can provide evidence of ownership in case of a dispute. The term of copyright in Canada is generally the life of the author plus 50 years, and registration is not restricted to published works. The location of creation is also irrelevant; Canadian copyright law applies to works created in any part of the world.

Question 3

The will read,"To my beloved wife,I leave our matrimonial home for life,remainder to our son,Ivan." Ivan,the adult son,no longer lived in B.C.Upon her husband's death,his wife remarried and moved out of the matrimonial home,but she allowed her friend Tilly to live there.Upon learning that his mother had moved out,Ivan considered moving back to the home.Which one of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

Ivan's legal right to the home as a remainderman only arises after the life estate of his mother ends, which is upon her death.

Question 4

About 10 years after their marriage,Eric and Bev had saved enough money to buy an investment property.First they bought a duplex,which they held as joint tenants,and later they bought a building lot in Surrey,which they held as tenants in common.Eric's will provided that his interest in the duplex would go to their daughter,Lisa,and that his interest in the Surrey lot would go to their son,Max.Indicate the statement that accurately describes who will take what upon Eric's death.

Accepted Answer

In joint tenancy, the right of survivorship applies, meaning Bev will automatically inherit Eric's interest in the duplex. However, as tenants in common for the Surrey lot, Eric's interest can be passed according to his will, so Max will inherit it.

Question 5

Mr.Bucks owned a 10-hectare property in Langley.He subdivided the land into two 5-hectare lots.He decided to keep lot A for himself and to sell lot B.His friend and neighbour,Ms.Goode,wanted lot B,so they made the following deal: for lot B,Ms.Goode would give Bucks $100 000,her car,a right-of-way of 3 metres along the east side of lot B to provide access to the highway,her promise not to remove any of the cedar trees (a row of which benefits lot A by blocking the view of a factory)and her promise to plant a 5-metre-long laurel hedge to block his view of her driveway.All promises were registered.Which one of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

Once the right-of-way is properly registered in the land title office, it becomes an easement and would bind subsequent purchasers of either lot A or lot B even though they were not privy to the original contract. This means that anyone who buys either lot A or lot B would have to allow the right-of-way to be used by the person who owns the other lot. Therefore, choice D is the correct answer.

Choice A is incorrect because this kind of deal is possible and not too complicated.

Choice B is incorrect because all promises made in the contract are registered and enforceable, including the promise to plant a laurel hedge.

Choice C is incorrect because the lot with the benefit of the right-of-way (lot A) is the dominant tenement and the lot with the burden of the right-of-way (lot B) is the servient tenement.

Choice E is incorrect because the promise not to remove any of the cedar trees would bind subsequent purchasers of lot B, including Mr. Ho.

Question 6

Which of the following is true with regard to trademark?

Accepted Answer

Registration of a trademark in Canada gives the owner exclusive rights to use it only in the country.

Answer: B
 Registration of a trademark grants protection for an initial period of 10 years, with the option to renew it every 10 years.

Answer: C
 If a trademark is registered but not used for a continuous period of three years, it becomes vulnerable to cancellation for non-use.

Answer: D
 The distinctive design of a product container can be protected under trademark law, as it serves as a source identifier for the product.

Answer: E
 Unregistered trademarks can also be protected under common law in Canada, not just by registration under the Trademark Act. However, they are protected through the tort of passing off, not copyright.

Question 7

Aunt Juliet wants to know whether or not to register her trademark.Which of the following is true with regard to registration of trademarks?

Accepted Answer

Registration of a trademark provides nationwide protection and exclusive rights to use the mark, even if the owner is not marketing nationwide.

Question 8

If a person wanted to build a log cabin in a new subdivision what might prevent him from doing it?

Accepted Answer

A restrictive covenant is a legal agreement that prohibits certain types of activities or limits the use of property within a subdivision. It is possible that the subdivision may have a restrictive covenant that prohibits the construction of log cabins.

Question 9

Which of the following is true with regard to obtaining a patent?

Accepted Answer

To obtain a patent, the inventor must satisfy the provisions of the Patent Act and demonstrate that the invention was not known or used by anyone else before they invented it. The other options are incorrect.

Question 10

With respect to the land titles system of registering interests in land,which one of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

The land titles system involves the examination of documents related to land interests when they are filed in the land title office. If these documents are found to be in order, the state of title certificate is updated to reflect the change, ensuring an accurate and current record of land ownership and interests.

Question 11

A husband and wife own Lot A as joint tenants and Lot B as tenants-in-common.The husband's will reads: "I leave Lot A to my son John and Lot B to my daughter Mary." Who takes what when the husband dies?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A husband and wife own Lot A...

Question 12

An option agreement is

Accepted Answer

An option agreement is a contract by which the offeror of property promises to hold his offer open for a period of time during which the offeree can accept the offer and the property can't be sold to another. This agreement gives the offeree the right but not the obligation to purchase the property at a later date for a specified price. The offeror receives a fee for this option contract which is typically non-refundable. The option agreement is useful for parties who are interested in purchasing/selling real estate but need more time to make a decision or are waiting for certain conditions (such as financing) to be met.

Question 13

Which of the following is false with regard to condominiums and cooperatives?

Accepted Answer

An owner of a cooperative does not have a real property interest in the unit they occupy, instead they own shares in the cooperative corporation that owns the property. The other statements are true.

Question 14

Chad was the best private detective in the west.His system for tracking persons who have caused themselves to disappear was markedly superior to that of others.Sally,his only assistant,was considered so valuable that he always had her sign five-year contracts with non-disclosure clauses.Sally took notes at a private meeting between Chad and a representative of the RCMP who was negotiating a contract with Chad for tracking down two criminals.Sally and Chad took care that the discussions were understood to be confidential-regarding both the information from the RCMP and from Chad about his methods.Sally was approached by a competitor of Chad,Mr.Adolph,who offered her three times her salary if she would break her contract with Chad,sign with him,and bring him information about Chad's tracking system.After some months,she did just that.Furthermore,she told Adolph the details of the information given to Chad by the RCMP,which caused the RCMP embarrassment,time,and money.Which of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

Sally had a fiduciary duty to Chad as his employee, which included protecting confidential information and respecting the non-disclosure clauses in her contract. Chad could sue Sally for breach of her employment contract, including the non-disclosure clause.

Question 15

Which of the following is true with regard to the law governing patents?

Accepted Answer

This statement accurately describes one of the fundamental principles of patent law. The inventor must disclose the invention in its entirety in order to obtain patent protection. This is done in order to promote technological progress and allow others to build on the invention in the future.

The other answer choices are incorrect. A patent may be granted even if there has been no prior publication of the invention (choice A). While computer programs can be subject to copyright protection, patents are generally only granted for inventions that are novel, non-obvious, and useful (choice B). Ownership of a patent typically belongs to the employer, not the employee, unless there is a specific agreement to the contrary (choice C). Finally, there is no automatic patent protection under the Patent Act; an application must be filed and granted in order for a patent to be obtained (choice E).

Question 16

Which of the following is correct with respect to trade secrets?

Accepted Answer

Trade secrets generally include things like formulas, patterns, recipes or other confidential business information that give a company a competitive advantage. The other choices are incorrect: A is incorrect because trade secrets do have a duty of nondisclosure, even absent a contract specifying this duty; C is incorrect because there is no provincial Trade Secrets Act in Canada; D is incorrect because employees must be informed that certain information is confidential in order for it to qualify as a trade secret; and E is incorrect because personal information can be a trade secret if it meets the criteria for confidential business information.

Question 17

With regard to real property law,which one of the following is true?

Accepted Answer

D is correct because in cases where co-owners of property cannot agree on the disposition of the property, one or more of the co-owners can seek a partition action in court. This legal action can result in the court ordering the sale of the property and division of the proceeds among the co-owners, even if one or more co-owners do not consent to the sale.

Question 18

For advertising purposes,Mr.Storage,the owner of a restaurant in the middle of the city,attached an enormous balloon to the roof of the building.The wind caused the balloon to rest most of the time right above a small adjacent grocery store.The balloon caused no damage,but its presence annoyed the owner of the grocery store,Mr.Greens,who was thinking of putting his own sign above his store.What action,if any,does Mr.Greens have against Mr.Storage?

Accepted Answer

Mr. Greens may have an action for trespass because the balloon is physically invading the airspace above his property, which can be considered a trespass even if it causes no damage.

Question 19

In 2005,Jonah sold a building to his two married sons: Alan and Charles.In 2015,Charles was thinking of severing the joint tenancy,but before anything was said or done,Charles and Alan both drowned in a boating accident.Charles died immediately,but Alan died two months later,never having regained consciousness.Charles had willed his interest in the property to his wife and Alan had willed his to his son.On these facts,which of the following is false?

Accepted Answer

Alan's son is not entitled to the whole property because Charles's wife is also entitled to half of the property.

Question 20

Which of the following is true with respect to the duty owed when a person is in possession of confidential information?

Accepted Answer

When a person is in possession of confidential information, they have a duty not to disclose that information if it would cause harm to the business or bring personal benefit. This duty arises from the common law duty of confidence, which does not require a fiduciary relationship or a contractual obligation. It applies to any situation where one person has been entrusted with confidential information by another. Copyright and patent law may also protect confidential information, but they are not necessary for the duty of confidence to arise, and the duty extends beyond partners within a partnership.

Quiz 13: Real, Personal, and Intellectual Property