E-TIPS

On October 25, 2021, the Ontario government introduced Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021 (Bill 27), that if passed, would significantly change employment laws, including imposing a prohibition on non-compete agreements for employees.

On October 29, 2021, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) launched a consultation on how copyright and patent legislation should deal with artificial intelligence (AI).

On November 8, 2021, the Federal Court of Canada (the Court) in Toronto Regional Real Estate Board v R E Stats Inc. (ReDatum), 2021 FC 1193, granted a motion by the defendants, R E Stats Inc. (operating as ReDatum) and Gabriel Stefanescu, to set aside the Order granting the plaintiff, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (the TRREB), default judgment for copyright infringement relating to the TRREB Multiple Listing Service (the TRREB MLS® System).

On October 15, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada (the Supreme Court) issued its decision in 6362222 Canada inc. v. Prelco inc., 2021 SCC 39, finding that, under the Civil Code of Québec (the Code), the doctrine of fundamental breach did not render a non-liability clause (i.e., a limitation of liability clause) inoperative.

On September 29, 2021, the Federal Court of Canada (Court) in Merck Canada Inc. v Canada (Health), 2021 FC 1015, held that the decision of the Minister of Health (the Minister) to deny a Certificate of Supplementary Protection (CSP) in respect of the Canadian Patent No. 2,670,892 and the drug BELSOMRA (suvorexant) was unreasonable since it failed to consider the object and purpose of the CSP legislative regime.

On October 13, 2021, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (OIPC) released its investigation report regarding LifeLabs Inc.’s (LifeLabs) compliance with Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).

On October 12, 2021, the County Court at Oxford (the Court) released its decision in Fairhurst v, Woodward (Case No: G00MK161), holding that the Defendant, Jon Woodard, breached the United Kingdom’s Data Protection Act 2018 (the DPA) and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (the Regulations) in his use of surveillance equipment around his property. The surveillance equipment was purchased from the Amazon-owned company, Ring, and included security cameras and a doorbell with audio and video recording capabilities.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation reporting a nearly 21% increase in reported ransomware cases and a 225% growth in associated losses from 2019-2020. On September 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an updated advisory to highlight the sanctions risks associated with ransomware payments to malicious cyber actors and proactive steps that companies can take to mitigate those risks.

On September 15, 2021, the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada (FCA) issued its decision in Stross v Trend Hunter Inc., 2021 FC 955, upholding the decision of the Federal Court (FC) finding that Trend Hunter Inc. (Trend Hunter) was liable for copyright infringement as its use of photographs did not fall under the “news reporting” exception and was not “fair dealing”.

On September 21, 2021, the England and Wales Court of Appeal (the Court) released its decision in Thaler v Comptroller General of Patents Trade Marks And Designs, [2021] EWCA Civ 1374, with a 2-1 majority holding that an artificial intelligence (AI) machine cannot qualify as an inventor under UK patent law.

On September 22, 2021, the Federal Court of Canada (FC) issued its decision in Caterpillar Inc. v Puma SE, 2021 FC 974, granting an appeal from a decision of the Trademarks Opposition Board (TMOB), in which the TMOB rejected Caterpillar’s opposition to Puma’s application for the trademark procat.

Introduction Privacy in Canada is rapidly evolving. Deeth Williams Wall wants to keep you apprised of the latest changes so you may prepare your organization’s compliance activities before legislation comes into effect. This Advisory summarizes actionable elements of the recently passed Québec privacy legislation with commentary on the expected federal privacy legislation.

On September 22, 2021, Quebec’s major privacy reform bill, An Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information (Bill 64), received royal assent after being adopted by the Quebec National Assembly the day before.

Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong was an iconic jazz musician. Jim Morrison, was an iconic rock musician. They share an interesting tie relating to Canada, even though history does not record them ever having had a joint musical appearance.

On September 8, 2021, Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) in Salna v. Voltage Pictures, LLC, 2021 FCA 176, unanimously reversed the Federal Court’s (FC) decision dismissing Voltage Pictures, LLC’s (Voltage) motion for certification of a reverse class action proceeding alleging file-sharing copyright infringement. The FCA acknowledged the novelty of the proposed reverse class action and noted that "the law must adapt to the evolving digital environment, the channels through which artistic endeavour is expressed and the means by which copyright may be infringed".

On September 16, 2021, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta (the Court) issued its decision in ES v Shillington, 2021 ABQB 739 (Shillington), recognizing, in Alberta, the tort of Public Disclosure of Private Facts.

On September 2, 2021, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced that it adopted an infringement decision against WhatsApp Ireland Ltd. (WhatsApp), issuing a €225 million fine against WhatsApp for breach of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR). The DPC found that WhatsApp breached its transparency obligations and provided insufficient detail about their data sharing and processing operations, infringing articles 5(1)(a), 12, 13 and 14 of the EU GDPR.

On September 8, 2021, the Federal Court of Canada (the Court) issued its decision in Norsteel Building Systems Ltd. v Toti Holdings Inc., 2021 FC 927, in which it granted an application by Norsteel Building Systems Ltd. (NBS) to expunge the trademark NORSTEEL from the register.

On September 7, 2021, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) issued its response to the Ontario government’s white paper on proposals for a provincial private sector privacy law, as previously reported by the E-TIPS® Newsletter here.

On September 2, 2021, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the Court) in Thaler v Hirshfeld, No. 1:20-cv-903 held that an artificial intelligence (AI) machine cannot be an “inventor” under current US patent law.