Intellectual Property
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March 05, 2024
Federal lawyers ratify new collective agreement gains that achieve ‘comparable’ pay to Ontario Crowns
Members of the union representing more than 3,300 federal government lawyers and Crowns voted overwhelmingly to ratify a “hard won” new collective agreement, featuring pay increases of 12.5 per cent (13.14 per cent compounded) over four years — and making the pay rates for federal Crowns “comparable” to those of their Ontario counterparts, who are the highest paid public-sector lawyers in Canada, says the Association of Justice Counsel (AJC).
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March 04, 2024
Abuse of process by relitigation
The Federal Court of Appeal has recently considered the doctrine of abuse of process in relation to a claim for patent infringement. The court’s conclusions are not limited to patent infringement and apply more broadly (Janssen Inc. v. Apotex Inc., [2023] F.C.J. No. 2369).
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March 01, 2024
Federal Court upholds trademark registration despite lack of usage evidence
The Federal Court has affirmed a decision upholding the registration of certain trademarks despite the absence of evidence regarding the use of the relevant marks from the new owner.
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March 01, 2024
Define ‘tough judge’ | Norman Douglas
There are many countries in the world with tough judges. Perhaps these countries have a lower crime rate — we don’t know, because what goes on in their criminal courts is kept secret.
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February 28, 2024
Canada endorses multinational policy framework for development of 6G wireless networks
Canada has joined nine other nations in endorsing a policy framework for 6G, the next generation of wireless technologies. Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne said in a Feb. 26 news release that the shared principles for the research and development of 6G wireless communication systems will support open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, resilient and secure connectivity.
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February 28, 2024
Pre-merger notification threshold to stay the same at $93 million for 2024, says Competition Bureau
The $93-million transaction-value threshold for requiring businesses to give Ottawa advance notice of a proposed merger will stay the same in 2024, the federal Competition Bureau says.
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February 27, 2024
Online harms bill would create new hate crimes, duties for social media, stiff fines, imprisonment
The federal government’s proposed Online Harms Act was welcomed by several advocacy groups who rated it a substantial improvement over Ottawa’s proposed blueprint three years ago; however red flags were raised, including questions around new hate crime provisions and penalties; whether the definitions of the targeted online harms are appropriately tailored; and whether a proposed new online regulator’s broad discretionary powers have adequate safeguards.
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February 27, 2024
Federal Court orders Access Copyright to refund $25.5 million to education ministries, school boards
The Federal Court has ordered Access Copyright to pay the education ministries of 10 provinces and Ontario school boards approximately $25.5 million plus pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, for overpayments of tariff royalties in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
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February 27, 2024
Preparing now for AI in your sphere | Connie L. Braun and Juliana Saxberg
There is a growing corpus of commentary and advice to Canadian entities recommending how to responsibly manage the risk presented by artificial intelligence (AI). For smaller entities that do not have the resources or operational capacity to institute an AI governance committee, the prospect of following this advice can seem daunting. Existing tech governance frameworks and guidelines have already proven inadequate to corral the risk pervasive in AI applications. For those not already aware, these risks contain bias and security vulnerabilities, along with seemingly no means to prevent human misuse of AI tools or poisoning of data.
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February 26, 2024
Ford slammed by bar for politicizing judge appointments; JPs threaten suit over pay review delays
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government is garnering sharp criticism from the legal community for further politicizing an appointment process that four years ago was lauded as the “the gold standard for the appointment of an independent and qualified judiciary,” free from partisan considerations.