Intellectual Property

  • April 23, 2026

    Saskatchewan introduces bill to bring in associate judges for King’s Bench

    Taking its cues from a handful of other provinces, Saskatchewan has introduced legislation that would add associate judges to its Court of King’s Bench.

  • April 23, 2026

    When March Madness meets trademark law: NCAA v. DraftKings

    As the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments recently reached their most-watched stages, a legal contest has been simultaneously unfolding off the court. Shortly after the start of the 2026 college basketball tournaments, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Indiana against DraftKings, one of the largest sports entertainment and online gaming operators in the United States.

  • April 22, 2026

    Court awards Chanel, Louis Vuitton $1M in trademark case

    The Federal Court has awarded more than $1 million to luxury brands Chanel and Louis Vuitton in a trademark infringement case involving counterfeit items.

  • April 21, 2026

    Ottawa introduces bill to establish sovereign space launch capabilities

    The federal government introduced the Canadian Space Launch Act in Parliament on April 21, aiming to give Canada sovereign space launch capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign partners.

  • April 21, 2026

    Passing off and the importance of evidence

    How much evidence is enough to win a passing‑off case — particularly where the parties are not‑for‑profit organizations and the alleged goodwill arises from a single event? In Federation of Asian Canadians Toronto v. Asialicious Holdings Inc., 2026 FC 495, the Federal Court confirmed that credible, well‑documented early use can be decisive, even where damages are modest.

  • April 21, 2026

    Copyright and competition: Music licensing challenges in Olympic figure skating

    The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina delivered two unforgettable weeks of historic performances, and figure skating once again proved it is one of the event’s crown jewels. However, one of the most talked-about stories, on and off the ice, was the music copyright controversy that affected athletes from various countries.

  • April 20, 2026

    New OBA campaign brings rule of law understanding to public

    This month, the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) launched its Rule of Law campaign in which local lawyers host discussions in their communities to help the public better understand the rule of law and its everyday importance to democracy.

  • April 20, 2026

    Here comes the Sun (Tzu litigation agent)

    With AI, lawyers can turn to AI agents to answer questions, locate files, find facts (or make them up) and automate certain functions. AI chatbots appear analogous to intelligent articling students.

  • April 16, 2026

    Court upholds finding that potato-processing tech does not infringe McCain patent

    The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that the use of pulsed electric field (PEF) technology to treat potatoes before cutting does not infringe a McCain Foods patent covering “high electric fields” used to reduce resistance in fruits and vegetables.

  • April 10, 2026

    AI regulation race: Could U.S., EU, Canadian provinces shape Canada’s federal framework?

    Canada does not yet have a dedicated federal artificial intelligence statute. However, the Canadian government has indicated that it will not be without one for long.

  • April 08, 2026

    Restituted art: ‘Seated Man With a Cane’ returns home

    The Nahmad family is one of the leading collectors of artworks in the world and are said to have amassed approximately 4,000 paintings worth about $4 billion, most of which I understand is stored in the Geneva Freeport in Switzerland. The patriarch of the family is David Nahmad, while his son Helly runs the Helly Nahmad Gallery in New York. Other members of the family are involved in different galleries in London and New York.

  • April 08, 2026

    The rule of law is not a given

    Most of us who have grown up in Canada, whether we realize it or not, have always taken the rule of law for granted. We never really thought about it, or what it even was, but that is precisely the point. It has always just been there, like oxygen. You don’t think about oxygen until you have trouble breathing. We as a society are now having trouble breathing.

  • April 07, 2026

    McCarthy Tétrault adds IP litigator Denise Brunsdon

    McCarthy Tétrault has added Denise Brunsdon as a partner in its national litigation and dispute resolution group in Calgary.

  • April 02, 2026

    Ontario decision clarifies when employee can keep ownership of work under Copyright Act

    Ontario’s top court has ruled against a company that claimed software developed by an employee belonged to them, with the judges saying the work was not done in the normal course of employment. Nexus Solutions Inc., a London, Ont.-based company that develops and markets CEMView, a software product, claimed that competing software developed by a former employee belonged to them.

  • April 01, 2026

    Carney mandates shortlist of 3+ bilingual western jurists for SCC, but only 2 were found last time

    The Carney government has opted to stick with the predecessor Liberal government’s requirement that the prime minister be handed a shortlist of at least three bilingual qualified candidates to fill an impending western/northern vacancy on the Supreme Court of Canada, despite the inability of the advisory committee that created the shortlist for the last such vacancy to recommend more than two bilingual qualified jurists.

  • April 01, 2026

    Court blocks ex-CEO’s startup over fiduciary breaches and non-compete clause

    The Alberta Court of King’s Bench granted an education technology company an injunction preventing its former CEO and his startup from competing against it, finding a strong prima facie case that he breached a non-compete clause and his fiduciary duties.

  • March 31, 2026

    Judicial council sanctions handful of federal judges but rejects hundreds of conduct complaints

    The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC), which oversees the professional conduct of the country’s 1,184 federally appointed judges, says that five judges were reprimanded or received other disciplinary sanctions last year.

  • March 31, 2026

    Alberta pushes for constitutional change on judicial appointments

    The Government of Alberta announced that it will introduce a motion calling for “constitutional amendments that give the province a say in superior court appointments.”

  • March 30, 2026

    PM launches process to select Justice Martin’s replacement on SCC bench

    On March 30, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the process to “select the next judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, who will fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Justice Sheilah L. Martin.”

  • March 25, 2026

    Ottawa & provinces roll out disparate views on the ‘notwithstanding’ clause at Supreme Court

    Before the Supreme Court of Canada reserved its impending historic decision on March 26, the top court heard starkly different interpretations this week about the nature and operation of the Charter’s s. 33 “notwithstanding” clause.

  • March 26, 2026

    Ottawa introduces bill targeting foreign interference, deepfakes and long ballots

    The Liberal government has introduced legislation aimed at protecting federal elections from foreign interference, cracking down on “long ballot” protest tactics and curbing election-related misinformation, according to a March 26 release.

  • March 26, 2026

    Dipchand adds Yixian Chen as partner

    Dipchand LLP has welcomed Yixian Chen as a partner in Toronto.

  • March 26, 2026

    History of museum’s collection frames looted art claim

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) was founded in 1870 by a group of prominent New Yorkers including businessmen, financiers, artists and philanthropists. Their objective was to bring fine art and art education to the American public, having been inspired by Europe’s great museums, with initial acquisitions being comprised of European Old Master paintings.

  • March 25, 2026

    Words matter when writing legal AI prompts

    When writing AI prompts, lawyers shape perception and outcomes, so understanding the impact of words in AI prompts is crucial. Since language acts as a filter, the specific words and phrases used in a prompt influence the AI’s interpretation of legal concepts, potentially affecting recommendations or decisions. If terms are ambiguous or carry historical biases, the legal AI response can lead to unintended interpretations. Tailoring prompts to set the stage and include sufficient background information allows the legal AI to understand the user’s intent. With prompts that are clear and unambiguous, legal professionals can reduce the likelihood of misinterpretation in the legal AI output.

  • 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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