The Federal Court has issued an updated Practice Notice on the Court’s “transition back to in-person hearings”. For hearings scheduled in January 2023 and beyond, the presumption will be in-person except for motions scheduled to be heard for a duration of two hours or less, as well as certain IRPA and Citizenship Act proceedings. “The Court encourages parties to all modes of hearings to proceed on the basis of an electronic record” Continue reading COVID Practice Notice
Monthly Archives: October 2022
Appointment
Nathalie Goyette, Partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Montréal, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court of Appeal. Judicial appointments were also made today in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Tax Court of Canada.
Europe
A couple of developments in Europe that may be of interest: 1) The long awaited United Patent Court is scheduled to open its doors and accept cases as of April 1, 2023; and 2) the EPO is abolishing the “10-day rule” for responding to deadlines, effectively reducing the time available to respond.
Federal Court
Earlier this week, Justice Guy Régimbald, a partner at Gowling WLG in Ottawa was appointed to the Federal Court. Judicial appointments were also made this week to the courts in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Continue reading Federal Court
Associate Judge
An order in council published in today’s Canada Gazette has put into force various amendments to among others, the Judges Act, and the Federal Courts Act to change the title of prothonotaries of the Federal Court and Tax Court of Canada from “prothonotary” to “associate judge”. Continue reading Associate Judge
Patent Changes
On Monday, the Patent Rules for patent examination procedures were amended to include claim fees for patent applications having more than 20 claims at any point during prosecution, and a request for continued examination after three office actions. Several other procedural changes were made as well.