Intellectual Property
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March 03, 2025
Importance of evidence of actual confusion
A decision of the U.K. Court of Appeal emphasizes the importance of evidence of actual confusion in an action for trademark infringement, particularly emails, transcripts of telephone calls, social media posts and online chats involving consumers (Tvis Ltd v Howserv Services Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 1103).
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March 03, 2025
Reframing legal technology: From institutional efficiency to user-centric access to justice
Legal practitioners and courts have long anticipated the transformative potential of technology in law. From digitized case management systems to artificial intelligence-driven legal research tools, technological advancements promised efficiency, accessibility, and, ultimately, greater and more meaningful access to justice. However, despite significant investment and integration of digital tools, legal professionals and courts increasingly express skepticism about the tangible benefits of legal technology for justice and access to it.
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February 28, 2025
SCC rules Métis Nation’s pursuit of overlapping lawsuits against Saskatchewan not abuse of process
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed 9-0 that a legal challenge by the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan to provincial permits that allow a company to explore for uranium on land to which the Métis claim Aboriginal title in Saskatchewan is not an abuse of process and may go ahead, notwithstanding that the Métis have also launched other lawsuits involving similar issues against the province.
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February 27, 2025
Field Law welcomes five partners, two counsel
Lee Carter, Carolyn Paterson, Pat Robinson and Matt Vernon, based in Calgary, and Paul Kolida, in Edmonton, have been promoted to the position of partners while Don Blackett and Karen Wiwchar named counsel at Field Law., according to an announcement on the firm’s website.
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February 26, 2025
Higher-cost medicines drove 14.1 per cent spike in patented drug prices: Report
The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board has published its latest report, finding that “drug costs jumped by 14.1 per cent in 2023, rebounding from three years of moderate increases of four to five per cent during the pandemic.”
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February 26, 2025
Ontario ruling shows litigants need to be more rigorous in how evidence is called at trial: lawyer
Ontario’s top court has ruled against a software company that claimed a marketing firm had breached a distribution agreement by copying the features and functionality of a program it had designed.
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February 26, 2025
SCC halts use of its ‘X’ account ‘for now,’ citing ‘strategic priorities and resource allocation’
In a move that has sparked controversy in Canada and beyond, the Supreme Court of Canada tells Law360 Canada that “for now” it will no longer use its official account on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, a high-profile billionaire associate of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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February 26, 2025
Appointments at Smart & Biggar offices in Ottawa, Toronto
Trademark agent Jessica Rustige has joined the Ottawa office of Smart & Biggar and Nicole Laberge is a new associate in the Toronto office.
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February 26, 2025
Women & 2SLGBTQI+ applicants came out ahead as ‘highly recommended’ for federal benches in 2023-2024
Asserting his new administration is “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity,” U.S. President Donald Trump recently issued controversial executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies and hiring at the federal level in America. But in Canada, the most recent demographic statistics on federal judicial appointments and the professional competence and character assessments made by the Trudeau government’s non-partisan judicial advisory committees (JACs) indicate that diversity has gone hand in hand with “merit.”
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February 25, 2025
Why single out DeepSeek? A global battle for supremacy and privacy, part three | Hodine Williams
In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence (AI), the race for dominance is no longer just about technological innovation. It’s about geopolitics, ethics and legal frameworks.