Intellectual Property
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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).
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March 04, 2026
Efficiency or privacy? AI scribes in Canadian health care explained
Artificial intelligence (AI) scribes are increasingly being explored as a tool to ease administrative burdens during Canada’s primary health care crisis. These tools use generative AI to transcribe and summarize clinical conversations, producing notes, referrals, prescriptions and other documentation that are integrated with electronic medical records. In Ontario and across Canada, interest in AI scribes is accelerating, supported by programs such as those led by OntarioMD (with the Ministry of Health and Supply Ontario) and Canada Health Infoway (supported by Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care).
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March 03, 2026
Intellectual property: Admissibility of online surveys
Promotion in Motion, Inc. (PIM) sought to register the trademarks SWISSKISS and SWISSKISS & Design as shown here for use in association with “Chocolate of Swiss origin,” collectively, the “SWISSKISS Trademarks.” I discussed the decision of the Federal Court judge here.
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March 03, 2026
OpenAI and the Tumbler Ridge tragedy
Tumbler Ridge is a district municipality located in northeastern British Columbia, established in 1981 as a planned community to support coal mining development. The town has a population of around 2,500 and is notable as Canada's first UNESCO Global Geopark, designated in 2014 due to its significant paleontological discoveries, including dinosaur fossils.
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February 27, 2026
Court upholds dismissal of trademarks for confusion with Hershey’s Kisses
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a chocolate company’s appeal arguing that SWISSKISS trademarks it sought to register would not be confused with Hershey’s Kisses.
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February 25, 2026
Experts, civil liberties associations warn against passing of ‘draconian powers’ in budget bill
More than 100 legal and human rights experts, industry leaders and civil society organizations have released an open letter to Parliament warning that the proposed amendments to the Red Tape Reduction Act in Bill C-15 sets Canada on a “dangerous anti-democratic track” and that sweeping exemption powers for corporations should be removed.
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February 25, 2026
Court slams Human Rights Tribunal’s refusal to hear cases
The Ontario Divisional Court has dismantled a major pillar of the Human Rights Tribunal’s unfair drive to reduce its backlog by dismissing most claims without a hearing.
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February 20, 2026
Blockbuster moves: Netflix and Paramount face off in the race for Warner Bros.
In June 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) announced plans to separate its Global Networks division from its Streaming and Studios division. WBD’s Streaming and Studios division includes its television and movie studios (Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, HBO, DC Studios, etc.), its streaming platform HBO Max and its extensive media library. WBD’s Global Networks division includes its global linear cable network properties such as CNN, TNT Sports, TBS, HGTV, Food Network and Discovery. The Global Networks division also encompasses several free-to-air channels across Europe and digital products including Discovery+ and Bleacher Report. The separation is expected to spin off Global Networks into a standalone publicly traded company, Discovery Global, in Q3 2026.
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February 18, 2026
Federal Court strikes elevator monitoring patent claim over pleading defects
The Federal Court has struck a patent infringement suit over elevator and escalator monitoring technology, ruling that the plaintiff failed to plead the material facts necessary to show which products allegedly infringed which of the patent’s claims.
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February 12, 2026
‘Distemper of our times’ calls for judges to balance restraint with principled ‘bold action’: CJ Joyal
“Bold” but “properly calibrated” judicial action, rather than reflexive judicial reticence and reserve, is sometimes necessary to preserve public confidence in the justice system — a confidence on which the foundational principle of judicial independence depends, says Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal.