For those following Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario’s challenge to the validity of certain gene patents in the Federal Court (T-2249-14 – see earlier post), CHEO has announced a settlement: “the patent holder Transgenomic has agreed to provide CHEO and all other Canadian public sector hospitals and laboratories the right to test Canadians for Long QT syndrome on a not-for-profit basis”.
Tag Archives: Federal Court
Summary Judgment and Summary Trial
My recent article on the 2009 amendments to the Federal Courts Rules relating to summary judgment and summary trial, particular for intellectual property proceedings was published by Slaw.
Costs
The Federal Court has issued a discussion paper on costs in the Federal Court. A subcommittee of the Federal Courts Rules committee is seeking comments by November 23, 2015 on costs, including on addressing improper, vexatious and unnecessary litigation, access to justice and methods of calculating costs.
Proportional Litigation
The Federal Court has issued a practice notice on streamlining discovery and case management called “Case management: Increased Proportionality in Complex Litigation before the Federal Court”. The guidelines and recommendations, arising from the Court’s Case Management Working Group, include limits on documentary and oral discovery and refusal motions.
IP Items
A few items that may be of interest:
- The United States Supreme Court issued its decision today in Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC, upholding the rule that a patentee cannot continue to receive patent royalties for sales made after the patent expires.
- The House of Commons has adjourned for the summer so pending bills, including Bill C-65, amending the Copyright Act to implement the Marrakesh Treaty for the blind, will need to be re-introduced. Bill C-59, the budget implementation bill which includes amendments to the Patent Act, Copyright Act, Industrial Design Act and Trade-marks Act, is still pending before the Senate.
- The Federal Court has issued a practice notice on the publication of decisions having ‘precedential’ and ‘non-precedential’ value.
Town Hall
Last month, the Federal Court hosted a ‘Town Hall’ for members of the intellectual property bar to discuss various initiatives happening at the Court as part of CBA’s IP Day. Some of the items discussed included the role of Prothonaries, case management, trial scheduling, and upcoming rule changes and practice notices. Thanks to the Federal Court and the CBA National Intellectual Property Section for organizing the event and making a copy of the slides available.
Judicial Appointments
The Honourable Patrick Gleeson, formerly a Canadian Forces legal advisor has been appointed to the Federal Court. Appointments were also made today to the courts in BC, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and to the Competition Tribunal and the Tax Court.
Judicial Appointments
The Honourable Richard Southcott has been appointed to the Federal Court. Previously, he was Vice President and General Counsel at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax. Judicial appointments were also made today in Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Judicial Appointments
Honourable Justice Rennie has been elevated to the Federal Court of Appeal. Also today, Honourable Denis Gascon has been appointed to the Federal Court. Gascon was formerly with Norton Rose Fulbright Canada in Montreal practising in the area of competition law and international trade regulations.
Federal Court Modernization
The Federal Courts Rules have been amended to remove obstacles to greater use of technology by the court. Among other things, the changes permit the registry to maintain an official electronic record, clarifying electronic service, amend the definition of ‘document’ and permit electronic filing. Also, the Federal Court has published a Notice to the Profession regarding obtaining copies from the digital audio recording system used at hearings.