Yesterday, Michael Battista, Founding Counsel at Battista Migration Law Group in Toronto, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court and Catharine Moore, Senior General Counsel at the Department of Justice Canada in Ottawa, was appointed an associate judge of the Federal Court. Appointments were also made to the courts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and the Tax Court.
Tag Archives: Federal Court
Budget
The government released its Budget 2024 that includes some IP related provisions:
- support for amendments to the Copyright Act to “help achieve interoperability between devices and equipment” and “to allow the circumvention of digital locks to diagnose, maintain, or repair a product”;
- for the Federal Court, funds to “enhance its capacity to deliver translated decisions” by the federal courts; and consultations on “repealing the residency requirement” for Federal Court judges allow for wider and more diverse pool of applicants;
- support for various innovation programs including $600m over four years for enhancements to the SR&ED program; money for the Innovation Asset Collective; and allowing “businesses to
immediately write off the full cost of investments in patents”.
Federal Court
The Federal Courts Rules Committee announced a “global review” of the Rules and invited comments on several identified proposals, as well as any other proposals for changes to the Rules by July 2nd. Some of the proposals include updates on electronic service and filing, incorporating elements from the consolidated practice notices, and expand roles of associate judges.
Hughes
The Honourable Roger Hughes has passed away. He was a Federal Court judge from 2005 to 20216 and a leading intellectual property author and lawyer.
Appointments
Julie L. Blackhawk, General Counsel at the Department of Justice Canada in Ottawa, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. Angus G. Grant, Assistant Deputy Chairperson at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in Toronto, was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. Continue reading Appointments
Appointments
Allyson Whyte Nowak, Senior Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP in Toronto was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court. The Honourable Elizabeth Walker and The Honourable Vanessa Rochester, judges of the Federal Court, were appointed judges of the Federal Court of Appeal. Appointments were also made today in Ontario. Continue reading Appointments
ChatGPT
As an experiment, I have integrated my case summary feature with ChatGPT and am using the AI engine to prepare some of the case summaries. The summaries generated by ChatGPT are identified to contrast them from summaries manually prepared or prepared using non-AI tools.
My IPPractice software uses OpenAI’s API to automatically make queries with the ChatGPT model and obtain the case summaries. I welcome any feedback!
AI
The Federal Court issued a Notice to the Parties and the Profession “The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Court Proceedings” indicating that it expects parties to declare if they have used generative AI to create documents filed with the court. A companion “Interim Principles and Guidelines on the Court’s Use of Artificial Intelligence” introduces the court’s principles relating to AI including a statement that “The Court will not use AI, and more specifically automated decision-making tools, in making its judgments and orders, without first engaging in public consultation.”
Complex Proceedings
The Federal Court has issued an updated consolidated practice direction “Case and Trial Management Guidelines for Complex Proceedings and Proceedings under the PM(NOC) Regulations”. The notice states that the update includes instructions for subsequent case management conferences and timing for submissions on costs.
Appointment
Phuong T.V. Ngo, a partner at Gowling WLG in Ottawa was appointed today as a Judge of the Federal Court. Continue reading Appointment