Articles

Significant legislative changes are on the horizon in the field of genetic testing with Parliament’s recent passage of Bill S-201: An Act to Prohibit and Prevent Genetic Discrimination. The Act will implement broad protections relating to an individual’s right to access their genetic information, as well as to prevent an individual from being required to undergo genetic testing and to disclose the results of their genetic tests. This article examines the legislative changes.

On January 30, 2017, the Federal Court released its decision in A.T. v Globe24h.com and Sebastien Radulescu, finding a foreign-based website operator liable for a breach of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). While PIPEDA has been applied to foreign companies before, Globe24h is the Federal Court’s most explicit statement on the issue of extraterritorial application so far.

Beacon Technology or Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons (collectively, “Beacons”) are becoming a major technological advancement available to Canadian retailers. However, Beacons also pose various legal concerns relating to privacy and data collection. This article discusses how Beacon technology works, and examines some of the legal considerations of which practitioners and business owners should be aware.

The Supreme Court of Canada heard oral arguments on November 8, 2016 in an important appeal challenging the “promise of the patent” utility doctrine in Canada. In AstraZeneca Canada Inc. v. Apotex Inc. (Esomeprazole), the Supreme Court was asked to decide on the question of whether the doctrine properly exists in Canada. This article provides a brief summary of the oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court.

John Simpson outlines the options available to companies experiencing an online attack on its brand.

The recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court in Nortel Networks Corporation, Re 2015 ONSC 2987 (“Nortel”), is a useful case study to highlight the complexity associated with the valuation of intellectual property.

An Ontario court recently ruled in 395804 Ontario Limited c.o.b. as Blacklock's Reporter v. Canadian Vintners Association and Dan Paszkowski that circumventing a subscription paywall to access a news article violates the technological protection measure (TPM) provisions in Canada's Copyright Act, and negates the fair dealing defence to copyright infringement available under Canadian law.

In the recent decision of Imperial Manufacturing Group Inc. v. Decor Grates Incorporated, 2015 FCA 100, the Federal Court of Appeal used an appeal of a particulars motion in an industrial designs case to eliminate the prior distinction between the standard of review of discretionary or interlocutory orders and all other appeals from the Federal Court.