Intellectual Property
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March 24, 2026
SCC judges probe what Charter s. 33 ‘override’ may mean for survival of Charter judicial review
The argument that a legislature’s use of the Charter’s s. 33 “override” clause can temporarily prevent judges from striking down a law but not from reviewing the law’s constitutionality or stating that the law infringes Charter rights and freedoms sparked a lively exchange between counsel and the bench as the Supreme Court of Canada kicked off its inquiry into the constitutionality of Quebec’s controversial “secularism” (Bill 21) law.
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March 24, 2026
CanLII, Caseway resolve lawsuit over alleged bulk downloading of records
The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) and AI legal research platform Caseway have settled a lawsuit over Caseway’s alleged use of records from CanLII’s website without authorization.
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March 23, 2026
Seismic Bill 21 case draws record counsel & intervener presence at this week’s four-day SCC hearing
This week’s blockbuster Bill 21 appeal at the Supreme Court involves 140 counsel of record — with 64 of them slated to make oral argument over four days on behalf of the 10 main party groups and the record 51 interveners.
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March 23, 2026
Bill C-265 aims to streamline Canada’s Special Access Program
The Special Access Program (SAP) provides a regulatory mechanism under the Food and Drug Regulations, Part C, Division 8, sections C.08.010 and C.08.011, and the Food and Drugs Act, allowing practitioners to request access to drugs not authorized for sale in Canada.
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March 18, 2026
The mask of professionalism: Stress of maintaining the ‘good lawyer’ image
In the first part of this two-part series (see link below), I wrote that in addition to actual legal work, most lawyers are also expected to act, speak and dress in certain ways. This added layer of effort can feel like a performance. It requires constantly monitoring yourself to maintain the image of a “good lawyer,” and it is exhausting. Here, I turn to what can be done to reduce the stress associated with all this extra labour.
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March 17, 2026
SCC heard more cases in 2025 but still fewer than pre-pandemic; number expected to rise in 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada heard more appeals last year than in 2024 and delivered its reserved judgments more quickly, but its hearings and output in 2025 were not yet up to pre-pandemic levels, according to the top court, which states it “expects to hear even more cases in 2026.”
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March 11, 2026
The billable hour is running out of time
Early in my career, I noticed a pattern I could not ignore. I would build rapport with clients, earn their trust and then watch everything fall apart the moment the invoice was sent. They were not upset with me personally, even though sometimes it felt that way. They were blindsided by a system that charged them in a way they found unfair. Even worse, I would get penalized if I found strategies to be fast and efficient to make it more fair.
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March 11, 2026
From algorithms to airspace: How defence companies secure their IP
Ask a room full of defence company founders how they think about intellectual property and you will most likely hear: Patents are everything. Patents are useless. Trade secrets are safer. NDAs don’t mean anything.
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March 10, 2026
Court grants Norwich order in movie copyright infringement case
The Federal Court has allowed a Norwich order compelling an internet service provider to disclose customer information in the case of alleged copyright infringement for distribution of a movie.
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March 04, 2026
Same place, different marks: Federal court finds no confusion in ‘Molisana’ trademarks
The good folk of Molise, Italy — a little-known region with fewer than 300,000 inhabitants — are likely blissfully unaware that their home was the subject of a recent trademark dispute between competing Canadian importers, ultimately adjudicated by the Federal Court in Canada (996660 Ontario Ltd. v. Falesca Importing Ltd., 2026 FC 114).