Assignor Estoppel

Yesterday, the US Supreme Court upheld but limited the doctrine of assignor estoppel for patents in Minerva Surgical Inc. v. Hologic Inc.: “When an assignor warrants that a patent claim is valid, his later denial of validity breaches norms of equitable dealing. … [But an] example of non-contradiction is when an assignment occurs before an inventor can possibly make a warranty of validity as to specific patent claims.”

Federal Courts Rules

Amendments to the Federal Courts Rules have been registered based on proposed amendments published back in 2016. These amendments include (1) increases to the monetary limit for prothonotaries and for simplified actions; (2) provide for excerpts in books of authorities; (3) a timeline for filing of books of authorities in appeals; (4) condensed appeal books; (5) establishing a “Notice of Intention to Respond” and standardize the timeline for filing a defence for defendants who are served in either Canada or the United States; and (6) clarifying the material to be contained in an applicant’s record.

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PMPRB

Various amendments relating to the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board are to come into force on June 30, 2021 including amendments to sections 79 to 103 of the Patent Act. In addition there are some changes being made for consistency with the Patent Act and to encompass CSPs. This is in addition to the amended Patented Medicines Regulations expanding reporting requirements are scheduled to come into force July 1, 2021 after being delayed several times. Continue reading PMPRB