Intellectual Property
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February 05, 2025
Virani extols more diverse bench; says he’s working to get new wrongful conviction review body going
In contrast to the new U.S administration’s dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies targeting hiring biases against members of racialized and other underrepresented groups, the Trudeau government is doubling down on its commitment to diversity, with Justice Minister Arif Virani proudly extolling the federal Liberals’ record of appointing many “brilliant” women and racialized jurists to the federal trial and appellate benches.
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February 05, 2025
Leo Pharma agrees to pay $437K to settle lawsuit over skin cancer risk from Picato
Toronto-based Leo Pharma has agreed to pay $437,678 to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that its actinic keratosis treatment, Picato, increased patients’ risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.
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February 03, 2025
Chief Justice Wagner says federal judicial appointments on ‘right path’ as vacancies hit low of 30
The minority Liberal federal government has turned around the “untenable” situation Canada’s top judge warned about two years ago that was harming Canadians, due to a persistently-high number of federal judicial vacancies caused by Ottawa’s years-long chronic delays in appointing judges.
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January 31, 2025
Top judge says SCC wants to hear more private law cases, urges Canadians to ‘fight for’ rule of law
As the Supreme Court of Canada marks its 150th birthday amid rising incursions on the rule of law abroad, Chief Justice Richard Wagner says it can also be an opportune time for Canadians to reflect on the state of their own courts, the rule of law and their independent and impartial justice system.
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January 31, 2025
Federal Court blocks trademark over likelihood of confusion with registered marks
In a clash between a global investment giant and a Canadian investment firm, the Federal Court has blocked the registration of the proposed trademark “LIVE WITH CONFIDENCE,” ruling that the Trademarks Opposition Board erred by analyzing it and existing trademarks “INVEST WITH CONFIDENCE” and “RETIRE WITH CONFIDENCE” side-by-side instead of as unitary phrases.
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January 29, 2025
Federal Court delists Regeneron patent, clearing path for Amgen biosimilar launch
The Federal Court has ruled that a patent for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) owned by New York-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is ineligible for inclusion on the patent register, clearing a barrier for Mississauga-based Amgen Canada to launch a biosimilar product.
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January 29, 2025
7 new partners for Aird & Berlis
Monica Carinci, Ryan Cohen, Matthew Helfand, Meredith McCann, Ian McLeod, Lawrence Veregin and Jonathan Yantzi are the newest partners at Aird & Berlis, the firm has announced.
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January 28, 2025
Inquiry calls for new prohibitions, penalties against foreign interference in Canada’s democracy
The federal Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference has recommended new prohibitions, fines and stiffer administrative monetary penalties (AMPs), as well as other legislative changes, to strengthen Canada’s defences against foreign interference in the country’s democratic processes.
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January 28, 2025
What OpenAI’s GDPR fine signals for Canadian organizations | Tara Sarvnaz Raissi
On Nov. 2, 2024, the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) fined OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, 15 million euros for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Garante found that OpenAI failed to report the breach of personal data, within its chatbot service, to the Garante and was non-compliant with GDPR’s breach notification requirements.
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January 27, 2025
Law societies provide helpful guidance on the client ID rules
All lawyers in Canada are required to verify the identity of their clients whenever the lawyer is involved in the receiving, paying or transferring of cash, currency, securities, negotiable instruments or other financial instruments. For lawyers outside of Quebec, the identity verification must be done using one of the following four methods: