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The Federal Court has issued a practice notice on the publication of decisions having ‘precedential’ and ‘non-precedential’ value.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Honourable Richard Bell, formerly of the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick, has been appointed to the Federal Court. Appointments were also made to the Tax Court, Nova Scotia courts, Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick, and Ontario Superior Court.
For those following the proceeding between AbbVie and Jansen relating to Stelara, the Court docket indicates a settlement was reached and today the Court issued an order that all claims and counterclaims be dismissed with prejudice. In October, the Federal Court of Appeal had set aside the trial decision and ordered a new trial.
The Honourable Simon Fothergill, counsel with the Privy Council Office, was appointed to the Federal Court today. The Honourable C. Michael Ryer, counsel to Deloitte Tax Law LLP was appointed to the Federal Court of Appeal. Appointments were also made today to courts in Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick and British Columbia.
Eli Lilly’s memorandum in the NAFTA arbitration on the ‘promise’ doctrine has been posted.
Justice Marc Noël was appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal replacing the Honourable Pierre Blais, who retired earlier this year.
CIPO has announced a consultation on Modernization the IP Community, a report on the regulatory framework for trademark and patent agents prepared with IPIC, AIPPI and FICPI, of which I had a small part on one of the working groups.
I am attending the AIPLA Annual Meeting this week. Let me know if you are planning on being there as well.