E-TIPS

On January 31, 2024, the Ontario Court of Appeal (the Court) issued its decision in Del Giudice v Thompson, 2024 ONCA 70, considering the tort of intrusion upon seclusion in the context of data misuse and rejecting the appellants’ arguments seeking class action certification.

On January 29, 2024, the Québec Superior Court of Justice (the Court), in 4207602 Canada Inc. (Cameo Knitting) c Kodiak Group Holdings, 2024 QCCS 292, granted a provisional injunction enjoining the Defendants, Kodiak Group Holdings Co. and IW Apparel, LLC, from terminating their agreement for cause.

On January 22, 2024, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) published a strategic plan (the Plan) that offers a high-level overview of the OPC’s vision for the next three years, including the types of initiatives that the OPC will be undertaking, areas in which it will focus its efforts, and outcomes that it intends to achieve.

On January 1, 2024, the amendments to section 61.1 of the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) and its accompanying regulation (the Regulation) took effect, providing the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) with additional enforcement power to impose administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) on those that contravene the legislation.

On January 24, 2024, in Novartis AG v Biogen Inc., 2024 FC 52, the Federal Court of Canada (the Court) released its decision finding that use of the trademark BYOOVIZ in association with a prescription ophthalmologic drug to treat age-related macular degeneration infringes Novartis’ registered trademark BEOVU, also used in association with a drug to treat age-related macular degeneration.

On January 17, 2024, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Centre) published an assessment titled “The Threat from Large Language Model Text Generators” (the Assessment), which draws on resources available to the Centre by virtue of its unique role in defending the Government of Canada’s information systems and uses those resources to provide valuable insight into adversary behaviour in cyberspace. The content of the Assessment is based on information available as of June 26, 2023.

On January 2, 2024, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the Court) granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the Defendant, Adidas Canada Limited, from using the name of its retail store in Vancouver. The decision in Amer Sports Canada Inc. v Adidas Canada Limited, 2024 BCSC 3, reflects a rare case of a Court issuing an injunction in a trademark matter before trial.

On December 23, 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) issued its reasons in Janssen Inc. v Apotex Inc., 2023 FCA 253, allowing an appeal by Janssen Inc. and Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. (collectively, Janssen) on grounds of abuse of process and granting its motion for summary judgment.

On January 10, 2024, the Québec government published draft regulations (the Draft Regulations) that, if passed, will amend the Quebec Charter of the French Language (the Charter) and the current Regulations respecting the language of commerce and business.

On December 7, 2023, the Federal Court of Canada (the Court) issued its decision in Seismotech IP Holdings Inc. v Apple Canada Inc., 2023 FC 1649, dismissing Seismotech IP Holdings Inc.’s (Seismotech) motion to obtain a Norwich order against Apple Inc. and Apple Canada Inc. (collectively, Apple).

Thank you for your readership over the last year and welcome to what we hope will be a fantastic 2024! In this year’s first issue of the E-TIPS® Newsletter, we will recap our most noteworthy reports from 2023, covering developments in intellectual property (IP) and information technology (IT) law under the following categories: (1) Legislative, Treaty and Policy Developments, (2) Patents, (3) Trademarks, (4) Copyright, (5) Privacy and Cybersecurity, (6) Contracts and (7) Artificial Intelligence.

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has recently announced further details in its quest to start slaying the dragon of mounting trademark examination backlogs.

On November 14, 2023, the Ontario Government tabled Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Bill 149), which proposes legislative amendments to various employment statutes in Ontario. If passed, Bill 149 will require employers to disclose the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the hiring process.

On November 28, 2023, the Government of Canada published the text of proposed amendments to Part 3 of Bill C-27, the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA).

On November 22, 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada (FCA) issued its decision in Dragona Carpet Supplies Mississauga Inc. v Dragona Carpet Supplies Ltd., 2023 FCA 228, dismissing an appeal relating to a decision of the Federal Court (FC) which dismissed a claim for passing off and expunged trademark registrations for DRAGONA.

On November 9, 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) issued its decision in Sandoz Canada Inc. v Janssen Inc., 2023 FCA 221, dismissing an appeal relating to a decision of the Federal Court (FC) that dismissed allegations by the appellant, Sandoz Canada Inc. (Sandoz), that Canadian Patent No. 2,659,770 (the Patent) was invalid on various grounds.

On November 9, 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal (the FCA) issued its decision in Apotex Inc. v Janssen Inc., 2023 FCA 220, finding that the marketing and sale by Apotex Inc. (Apotex) of its Apo-Macitentan product would induce infringement of Canadian Patent No. 2,659,770 (the Patent).

On October 30, 2023, the G7 leaders published the International Guiding Principles for Organizations Developing Advanced AI Systems (the Principles) and the International Code of Conduct for Organizations Developing Advanced AI Systems (the Code), which are intended to support organizations when developing and using advanced AI technologies, such as the most advanced foundation models and generative AI systems.

On October 23, 2023, Ontario introduced Bill 142, Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023 (Bill 142), which would repeal the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 and enact the Consumer Protection Act 2023, (the “new CPA”) as well as amend the Consumer Reporting Act, 2002. Bill 142 is aimed at addressing changing consumer habits and business practices in an increasingly online world, and would, if passed, seek to strengthen consumer protections and make life easier for both consumers and businesses.

On October 20, 2023, the Government of Canada released the text of proposed amendments to Part 1 of Bill C-27, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA).