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Intellectual
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CBA Intellectual Property Section

Articles are published by the Intellectual Property Section. Members interested in posting articles are encouraged to send them to the Section by email: CBAI_P@cba.org.

Today
Today

Case summary: Court upholds Prothonotary’s decision that patent agent-client privilege subsists in communications made prior to Patent Act s. 16.1 coming into force

  • February 25, 2021
  • David Schnittker

Distrimedic Inc. (“Distrimedic”), the Defendant in a patent infringement action, appealed an Order of Prothonotary Steele. That Order dismissed Distrimedic’s motion contesting the privilege asserted by Richards Packaging Inc. (“Richards”) over documents in its affidavit of documents. The Court dismissed Distrimedic’s appeal.

Intellectual Property

Case summary: Appeal of first trial decision under amended Regulations dismissed

  • February 25, 2021
  • Benjamin Pearson

The Appellants, Amgen Inc. and Amgen Canada Inc. (“Amgen”), appealed a decision of the Federal Court that found claims 43-47 of Canadian Patent No. 1,341,537 to be obvious. Amgen argued that the Federal Court committed a reviewable error in applying the test for obviousness.

Intellectual Property

Case Summary: Federal Court upholds Prothonotary’s Order granting release of a settlement agreement in Pharmascience v Pfizer Canada ULC

  • February 25, 2021
  • Kelly McClellan

The Federal Court dismissed Pharmascience’s appeal of a Prothonotary’s Order ordering Pfizer (i) to produce an unredacted settlement agreement between Pfizer and a third party, contingent on consent of the third party, and (ii) declining to order production of a second unredacted settlement agreement between the same parties (2, 3, 15).

Intellectual Property

Case summary: Federal Court of Appeal clarifies the requirements for leave to appeal interlocutory orders made under the PM(NOC) Regulations

  • February 25, 2021
  • Katie O’Meara

This decision concerned two motions for leave to appeal from a Prothonotary’s interlocutory order made under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations, SOR/93-133 (the “Regulations”) as amended. Apotex Inc was the Applicant and Allergen et al. was the Respondent on the first appeal. Pharmascience Inc was the Applicant and Bayer Inc et al was the Respondent on the second appeal.

Intellectual Property

Case summary: Costs awarded to plaintiff following defendant’s discontinuance of counterclaim

  • February 25, 2021
  • Hung Nguyen

The Plaintiff seeks costs, following the Defendant’s filing of a Notice of Discontinuance to discontinue their counterclaim. The Defendant argues that the Plaintiff is not entitled to costs because those costs were already addressed in a previous court Order, and also because the items in the Plaintiff’s Bill of Costs do not exist in the list of items provided in Tariff B of the Federal Courts Rules, SOR/98-106 (FCR).

Intellectual Property

Case summary: Federal Court of Appeal denies a request for a cost variance

  • February 25, 2021
  • Hung Nguyen

This matter concerns an assessment of costs pursuant to 1) a Judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal (the “FCA”), wherein the Appellant’s appeal from an Order of the Federal Court was “dismissed with costs, including the costs of preparation of the appeal book”; and 2) an Order of the FCA, wherein the Respondent was awarded costs in relation to the Appellant’s motion.

Intellectual Property

Case summary: Federal Court of Appeal dismisses appeal of Federal Court judgment finding patent invalidity for anticipation and obviousness of three patents pertaining to inventions for all-terrain vehicles

  • February 25, 2021
  • Kelly McClellan

The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal of the Federal Court judgment, Camso Inc., v Soucy International Inc. et al., 2019 FC 255 (FC Reasons), dismissing an action involving three patents, 2,388,294 (the ‘294 Patent), 2,828,509 (the ‘509 Patent), and 2,822,562 (the ‘562 Patent), because it concluded the claims at issue in each patent were invalid for anticipation and obviousness (FCA Reasons 1, 2, 6).

Intellectual Property

Case summary: Filing of reply expert evidence

  • February 25, 2021
  • Ken Clark and Lawrence Veregin

This decision concerns a motion by the Plaintiffs to seek leave to file reply expert reports from its expert witnesses in a patent impeachment action. The reply expert reports include the experts’ responses to new issues and a rebuttal to the Defendant’s expert’s claim construction based on correspondence with the patent office during prosecution of the patent (s. 53.1(1) of the Patent Act).

Intellectual Property