The Federal Court of Appeal has issued a further notice extending its suspension period until May 15, 2020 and adjourning all hearings during this period, although parties may consent to have their matters heard remotely or decided based only on the written material. I understand that the Federal Court is likely to extend its suspension period as well.
The Ontario Superior Court has issued a Notice re-opening hearings in certain cases beyond just ‘urgent’ matters using remote hearings and relaxing requirements for service by email and filing.
WIPO has announced that the PCT International Bureau has suspended the transmittal on paper of PCT documents and notifications and will only use electronic means.
The Ontario Superior Court has published a practice advisory relating to motions practice in Toronto. Motion Scheduling Court will be rebranded as Civil Practice Court with additional case management as part of an initiative to address “motions culture” in Toronto. Changes come into effect on November 10, 2014.
Continue reading Ontario Court Practice Changes →
The Ontario Court issued practice notices regarding motion practice last fall that were recently published online. The first requires, among other things, the moving party to file a Notice of Motion within 10 days after the motion date is requisitioned. The second is an announcement that additional resources are being allocated to long motions.
Continue reading Motion Practice in Ontario Court →
The Ontario Superior Court has published a practice advisory entitled “Guidelines for Preparing and Delivering Electronic Documents requested by Judges”, a set of checklists, instructions and guidelines for ‘e-Delivery’ of electronic documents to judges of the Court’s Commercial List as part of a pilot project.
Continue reading Electronic Documents for Court →
Justice Macdonald dismissed a motion to strike the Statement of Claim in Apotex Inc. v. Eli Lilly and Company, 2012 ONSC 3808 (atomoxetine) permitting claims under Section 8 of the PM(NOC) Regulations, unjust enrichment, profits and Section 7(a) of the Trade-marks Act.
Continue reading Remedies for dismissed PM(NOC) Proceeding →
An Ontario Court judge issued a decision this week bemoaning the lack of electronic court records: “I suppose that on a sunny, unusually warm, mid-March day one should be mellow and accept, without complaint, the systemic failures and delay of this Court’s document management system.”
Continue reading Courts and electronic files →
The Ontario Court has released a decision this week in The Commissioner of Competition v. Yellow Page Marketing, 2012 ONSC 927 which found that, contrary to the Competition Act, the respondents had made material false or misleading representations intending to deceive Canadians into believing they were dealing with the Yellow Pages Group, owner of the Yellow Pages trademark and walking fingers design.
Continue reading Trademarks and Competition Act →
The Ontario Superior Court has granted certification in the class action against Thomson Reuters/Carswell for copyright infringement over allegations of reproducing copies of court filed documents. The class includes lawyers in private practice who have authored materials filed with the courts and reproduced in Carswell’s “Litigator” offering.
Continue reading Copyright class action against Thomson Reuters →
From the Ontario Court, in Paradigm Shift Technologies Inc. v. Alexander Oudovikine, 2012 ONSC 148, the court rejected a motion for an interlocutory injunction on alleged trade secrets held by an ex-employee. In Boulangerie St-Méthode v. Boulangerie Canada Bread, 2012 QCCS 83, the Quebec Court considered distinctiveness and descriptiveness of the mark « sans gras sans sucre » for bread.
In a practice direction, the Ontario Superior Court announced that as of October 1st, parties should include neutral citations (2011 ONSC 123) on Superior Court decisions, in addition to other citations. They also announced that they will accept copies of decisions from electronic databases all though they caution that decisions are sometimes corrected after issuance and the date the decision was obtained electronically should be noted in the citation. The practice notices identifies QuickLaw and CanLII as “Approved electronic databases” dedicated to the publication of judicial decisions.
The Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal had previously announced their support for the use of neutral citations for all decisions.
Canadian Intellectual Property