Articles 2023

In The Coca-Cola Company v. The Attorney General of Canada, 2023 FC 424, the Coca-Cola Company appealed a decision of the Commissioner of Patents refusing to grant a patent on Canadian Patent No. 2,718,279 on the basis that the claims in the Application were obvious. The Federal Court allowed the appeal in part. It held that the Commissioner erred in its obviousness assessment of one of TCCC’s claims and referred the matter back for redetermination.

In many negotiations, a client's reservation point becomes critical to understanding settlement options. A reservation point is the worst settlement a client will accept in order to avoid the worst alternative to a negotiated agreement. This situation applies to litigation, non-litigious disputes, and business negotiations, with slightly different dynamics in each.

On March 2, 2023, the Federal Court announced a pilot program to create 'Chambers' of judges in the areas of: 1) IP/Competition; 2) maritime and admiralty; and 3) class actions. The notice indicated that the Chief Justice will assign IP, competition, and maritime and admiralty matters to members of the Court who have expertise in those areas, with the stated objective of developing expertise within those silos in the Court.

ChatGPT, developed by Microsoft-backed research lab OpenAI, has occupied the artificial intelligence news stream since its initial launch in December 2022. ChatGPT is a natural language processing generative AI tool that, depending on the model a user can access, can generate text-to-text, or image-to-text, output in a formula which mimics human conversation. The first publicly available tool of its kind, ChatGPT has become one of the fastest-growing consumer applications of all time.

Estate administration can seem like a minefield even to the most seasoned practitioners. With every stage comes the risk of a misstep and with it, costly delays, legal disputes, and bitter family feuds. A recent OBA program provided guidance and solutions to help practitioners navigate the complexities of an estate administration.

The OBA Trusts and Estates Law Section hosted an Evening with Estate Judges on April 25. The Honourable Justices Dietrich, Gilmore, and Fowler Byrne attended and shared invaluable advice and tips with members of the estates bar.

In the recent decision of Alger v Crumb, the Ontario Court of Appeal considered a general revocation clause in a testator’s Will, and whether it was sufficient to revoke beneficiary designations for the testator’s RRIF and TFSA. In this article, Jennifer Corak reviews the Court of Appeal’s considerations and conclusion.

MAID is a complex topic and the laws surrounding it require a delicate balance of competing considerations – from preserving a person’s dignity to protecting those who are vulnerable. MAID laws have been subject to considerable review and development since their introduction, and it is expected that they will continue to evolve as the concept develops. Andrea Tratnik and Christina Kim review the history and current status of MAID laws in Canada.

In January 2023, the Ontario Estates Bench-Bar Liaison Committee met to discuss various matters, including scheduling issues, issues that can arise in applications for an ancillary grant or resealing, timing for filing confirmation forms, and the requirement for filing compendiums.

On April 4, 2023, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, Philippe Dufresne, launched an investigation into OpenAI after having received a complaint alleging the collection, use and disclosure of personal information without consent.