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Chris Bennett
Partner

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Biography

Chris Bennett is the head of the firm's Trade-marks, Technology & Outsourcing, and Video Games & Interactive Entertainment Law Practice Groups. He is also a member of the firm's Intellectual Property Law and Franchise & Distribution Law Groups, and he is the Chair of the firm's Environmental Sustainability Task Force. He primarily advises clients regarding the following issues:

• Creation, protection, enforcement and commercialization of intellectual property rights and domain names
• Development, distribution, licensing and support of software, video games and other technology
• Athlete, event and corporate sponsorship agreements
• Compliance with privacy legislation
• Establishment and protection of Internet-based businesses, franchise systems and other distribution systems

Recognition

• AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• One of the 2009 Business in Vancouver Top 40 under 40
• One of the 2008 Lexpert® Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40
• Wesbrook Scholar

Directorships, Memberships & Professional Activities

• Advisory Board Member, 2009 Pacific Legal Technology Conference
• Registered Canadian Trade-mark Agent
• Member, Law Society of British Columbia
• Member, Canadian Bar Association
• Chair, Computer Law Section, Canadian Bar Association (2001-2003)
• Co-instructor, New Media and Law Course, British Columbia Institute of Technology
• Affiliate, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
• Affiliate Member, Canadian Franchise Association
• Member, International Game Developers Association
• Member, New Media BC
• Overseas Member, The Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys

Publications & Seminars

• Twitter page: twitter.com/chrisbennettlaw
• VeRO-fying IP rights on eBay, The Lawyers Weekly, November 27, 2009.
• Pannelist for session on licensing new media, Alliance for Commercialization of Canadian Technologies (ACCT Canada) Annual Meeting, November 2009
• Presentation on IP law and technology licensing at Davis LLP seminar on IP due diligence, November 2009
• UBC law school guest lecturer - IP and technology law, October 2009
• Presented a seminar on information technology at the BC Law Society's Pacific Legal Technology Conference in Vancouver, October 2009.
• Gift Card Legislation, The Lawyers Weekly, August 7, 2009.
• Presented a seminar on "Web 2.0 Legal Issues" at Insight Internet Law Conference in Vancouver, April 2008.
• "Copyright Liability for Electronic Postings", The Lawyers Weekly, March 13, 2009.
• "Why sound marks law needs to catch up in Canada", The Journal of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, March 2009.
• Presentation on Intellectual Property and Technology Law to Okanagan Science and Technology Council (OSTEC) in Kelowna, January 14, 2008.
• Online defamation case summary: Crookes v. Wikimedia Foundation, E-commerce Law Reports, December 15, 2008.
• "Trade-marks Rock: Canada should accomodate the registration of sound marks", The Lawyers Weekly, November 21, 2008.
• Co-chaired Insight Internet Law Conference in Vancouver, November 2008.
• Presented a seminar on "Basics of IP Law" to Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) on behalf of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, September 2008.
• "Clearly descriptive trade-marks land owners in hot water" The Lawyers Weekly, May 2, 2008.
• "Ask the Legal Experts" article on Privacy Legislation, FranchiseCanada, May/June 2008.
• Presented a seminar on "IP law issues in the Video Game Industry" to the Licensing Executives Society, April 2008.
• "What is clearly descriptive?", The Journal of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (first publication), March 2008.
• Davis LLP Video Game Law Blog
• "What's new in Canadian Trade-mark Prosecution?" The Lawyers Weekly, January 18, 2008
• "Double Double Trade-mark Trouble", The Journal of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (first publication), December 2007.
• Presented "Basics of Contracts" Module at the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada's Basics of Law course, November 2007.
• Presented a seminar on "IP Licensing Agreements" at the Federated Press Negotiating and Drafting Major Business Agreements conference, October 2007.
• "Trade-mark News Update From Canada", The Journal of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (first publication), October 2007.
• "Trade-mark News Update From Canada", The Journal of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (first publication), September 2007.
• "E-Commerce for Successful Franchisors" by John Rogers, Chris Bennett and Sony Grewal, published in IFA's Franchising World, August 2007, p. 23.
• "Massively Multiplayer Online Games and the Law", Internet and e-commerce Law in Canada, July/August, 2007, p.33.
• "Lawyers' Practice All Fun and Games: Vancouver Firm Specializes in Video Game Industry", Vancouver Sun, July 29, 2007.
• "Turning a gaming obsession into a niche", The Lawyers Weekly, July 13, 2007.
• "Johnny Depp 2.0: The rise of the movie pirate", CBA's Addendum, June 2007.
• Presented a workshop on Intellectual Capital for Game Companies at the Vancouver International Game Summit, May 2007
• "Contracts in the MMO World", co-authored with Andreas Lober, SchulteRiesenkampff (Germany), and published in the CBA National Magazine's Addendum, April 19, 2007
• Commentary on anti-violence video game legislation,The Lawyers Weekly, March 9, 2007
• Co-authored Gamasutra feature on the dispute between Activision and Spark Unlimited regarding Call of Duty: Finest Hour, January 12, 2007
• "The games people play online can generate major liability for game companies", in Business in Vancouver, December 2006
• "Negotiating Computer Contracts for Franchisors and their Franchisees" in Franchising World, May 2006, pp. 80-83, authored by David Spratley, Chris Bennett and John Rogers
• Presented a seminar on "Third-Party Video Game Licence Agreements" at the Gamer Technology Law conference in Beverly Hills, March 2006
• "Video games create a whole new world of legal liabilities" November 18, 2005 issue of The Lawyers Weekly
• "Running Contests in Canada -- Rules Applying to Franchisors" in Franchise and Distribution, Volume XI, No. 2, co-authored with John L. Rogers and Dave Spratley, 2004
• "New Canadian Privacy Legislation Applies to All Franchises In Canada", by John Rogers and Christopher Bennett, International Journal of Franchising Law, 2004, Volume 2, Issue 5, p. 31
• "Master Franchising in Canada", John L. Rogers and Chris Bennett, Franchising World Magazine, July 2004, p.52
• "Use 'em or Lose 'em: Protect Your Trade-marks", p.1, Intelligence, Spring 2004

Media Commentary

• Quoted in Globe and Mail article on blogging, January 5, 2010
• Quoted in Bartalk article entitled "How Technology Impacts Privacy", December 2009
• Quoted in Business in Vancouver article on Vancouver game developers, November 17-23, 2009
• Lawyers Weekly, "Copyright liability for electronic postings" March 13, 2009
• Quoted in Business in Vancouver article on the Vancouver Video Game Industry, February 10-16, 2009
• Quoted in ABA Law Practice article on "Riding the Net's Second Wave", January/February 2009
• Quoted in Globe and Mail article regarding potential liability of video game companies in connection with video games played by minors, October 27, 2008
• Quoted in "Practising Law with Software as a Service (SAAS)", National Magazine, September, 2008
• Quoted in "New Distribution Channels Provide Fresh Incentives for Independent Publishers", Business in Vancouver, April 29, 2008
• Quoted in "New Asia Internet domain gaining traction in B.C." Business in Vancouver, March 18, 2008
• Quoted in "Virtual Worlds Ripe for Real-World Lawsuits", Financial Post, March 12, 2008
• Quoted in "Building your Blawg", CBA BarTalk, February 2008
• Quoted in Business in Vancouver Article "Courts Wrestle With Virtual Assets", February 5-11, 2008; issue 954
• Quoted in CBC News article "Virtual Worlds", December 7, 2007.
• Featured in Financial Post Business Magazine "Job Shadow" article, December 2007, p. 33.
• Quoted in The Langara Voice article "Two Lives Are Better Than One," October 24, 2007.
• Davis LLP's Video Game Law Group and Second Life office featured in Vancouver law firm hangs up its virtual shingle in Second Life, September 26, 2007.
• Featured in Lawyers hang their virtual shingles online in Second Life, September 7, 2007.
• Featured in the article "The new landscape of law" published in the National magazine, July/August 2007
• Quoted in Vancouver Sun article on Microsoft Gaming Division, July 18, 2007.
• Special guest on CBC Radio One, discussing the legal issues surrounding massively multiplayer online video games, November 2006
• Quoted in "Are virtual-reality games the new Wild West, and if so, who will police them?" article in Backbone Magazine, November 2006
• Davis Video Game Law Blog selected as website of the month in Edge magazine, November 2006
• Quoted in Edge magazine article on video game patents and copyrights, entitled "Escaping the IP Maze", August 2006
• Quoted in CBA National magazine article on video game law entitled "Playing with Power", August 2006
• Quoted in BC Business article entitled "Lawblogs", July 2006
• Quoted in "Game On" article in Backbone Magazine, May 2006
• Quoted in The Lawyers Weekly article entitled "Blog builds video game law practice group's credibility and profile", February 24, 2006
• Quoted in CBALink, "New Media Marketing, Part I - Blogs: How Lawyers Can Become Thought Leaders in a Niche Market", February 2006
• Quoted in Vancouver Sun, National Post, Calgary Herald and Ottawa Citizen articles regarding use of Red Cross Trade-marks in video games, February 2006
• Quoted in Vancouver Sun and Globe and Mail articles regarding employee overtime in the video game industry, October 2005
• Special guest on 640 Toronto, Mojo Radio, discussing video game legislation, July 2005

Education

• Advanced Trade-mark Practitioner Course, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, 2002
• Law clerk at the British Columbia Court of Appeal for the Honourable Mr. Justice Goldie and the Honourable Mr. Justice Hollinrake
• LL.B., University of British Columbia, 1998
• B.A., Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 1994

Place and Year of Call

• British Columbia, 1999

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