When former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson purchased a silver cup to become the award for Canada’s best women’s hockey team, did she also purchase its intellectual property? That’s the $64,000 question (or perhaps more) in a legal dispute between the former GG and the artist who made what’s come to be known as the “Clarkson Cup.”
Beth Biggs, the New Brunswick jeweler who designed the cup, says the intellectual property is still hers and wants Hockey Canada to pay to license the image of the cup for posters, T-shirts, and any other Clarkson-Cup-emblazoned swag. Of course Hockey Canada isn’t cool with that. Our suggestion? Settle it on the ice.