PCK

July 3, 2014

US Supreme Court Reaffirms that Induced Infringement Requires Direct Infringement

Limelight Networks Inc v Akamai, No 12–786, 572 US ____ (2014) - The US Supreme Court reaffirmed that induced infringement requires direct infringement.
June 20, 2014

Reciting a Generic Computer or Conventional Computer Implementation Not Sufficient to Render an Otherwise Abstract Idea Patent Eligible

Alice Corp v CLS Bank, No 13–298, 573 US ____ (2014) - The US Supreme Court rejected patent claims that “relate to a computerized scheme for mitigating ‘settlement risk’" for being drawn to the abstract idea of intermediated settlement. Merely requiring generic computer implementation fails to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.
May 26, 2014

Federal Court Grants Motion for Bifurcating Determination of Start of Liability Period under s. 8 of the PM(NOC) Regulations

Apotex Inc v Pfizer Canada Inc, 2014 FC 159 - The Court confirmed that bifurcation of a PM(NOC) proceeding is not limited to liability/damages, and held that “[i]t is open to the Court to bifurcate any issue which will result in the saving of time, cost and judicial resources.” The issue need not be a threshold issue determinative of the proceedings.
April 15, 2014

Federal Court Dismisses Bell’s Motion to Disqualify the Law Firm of Bereskin and Parr in Patent Infringement Action

Mediatube Corp. and Northvu Inc v Bell Canada et al, 2014 FC 237 - The Court dismissed a motion to remove Bereskin & Parr as solicitors of record for Mediatube for a conflict of interest, finding that “[w]hile there may be some circumstances where related companies could be considered as one entity and one client, the circumstances in the present case do not lead to that conclusion.”
March 26, 2014

Federal Court Upholds Case Management Prothonotary’s Order Regarding Trial Date

Abbvie Corporation v Janssen Inc - 2014 FC 178 - The Court dismissed the appeal of the fixing of a trial date made by the Case Management Prothonotary.
March 21, 2014

FCA Upholds Trial Court Ruling that Availability of Compensation under s. 8 of the NOC Regulations Is a Question of Fact

Sanofi-Aventis Canada Inc v Teva Canada Limited - 2014 FCA 69 - The Court stated that whether there can be recovery for unauthorized indications under section 8 of the PM(NOC) Regulations is a question of fact, and that the purpose of section 8 damages is to compensate generics for a delay caused by NOC Proceedings.
March 21, 2014

Quebec Court Holds Non-Agents May Draft Patents, But Must Disclose Their Inability to File and Prosecute and any Potential Patentability Issues

Kirouac-Couture c ERL Étude et Recherche Inc, 2014 QCCQ 1405 - The Court held that ERL’s failure to provide the relevant disclosure vitiates Couture’s consent to enter the contract for preparation of the patent application.
March 21, 2014

FCA Upholds Rejection of Sanofi’s Motion to Amend Its Statement of Defence

Sanofi-Aventis Canada Inc v Teva Canada Limited - 2014 FCA 65 - The Court dismissed Sanofi’s appeal to amend its statement of defence in a PM(NOC) proceeding. It is not sufficient that allowing the amendment would not be unjust. What is required is that any injustice to the other party is capable of being compensated by an award of costs and the interest of justice must be served.
March 10, 2014

FCA Dismisses Pfizer’s Appeal Challenging Admissibility and Weight of Apotex Expert’s Testimony

Pfizer Canada Inc v Apotex Inc, 2014 FCA 54 - The Court rejected Pfizer's argument that the trial judge did not properly apply the R. v. J.-L.J., 2000 SCC 51 case when assessing the admissibility of what Pfizer alleged were novel scientific theories put forth by Apotex’s expert.
March 10, 2014

Federal Court of Appeal Upholds Disqualification, But Refuses to Invalidate Cobalt’s Notice of Allegation

Valeant Canada LP v Canada (Health), 2014 FCA 50 - The Court dismissed an appeal from the Federal Court’s decision to grant Valeant’s motion to disqualify Cobalt’s in-house lawyer from any further involvement in the application before the Court on the ground that he could be presumed to have Valeant’s confidential information.
February 18, 2014

Federal Court Holds Valeant’s Prohibition Application Is Not Abuse of Process

Valeant Canada LP v. Cobalt Pharmaceuticals – 2013 FC 1254 Cobalt moved, pursuant to s. 6(5)(b) of the PM(NOC) Regulations, to dismiss as an abuse of […]
February 11, 2014

Federal Court Adopts a More Restrained Approach to Construing Promise of the Celebrex Patent

Pfizer Canada Inc. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals ULC – 2014 FC 38 In this case Pfizer brought a prohibition application under the PM(NOC) Regulations to prevent the […]
January 30, 2014

Commissioner’s Decision Upheld on Judicial Review

University of California v Commissioner of Patents [2014 FC 80]   Background The Applicant – University of California – sought judicial review pursuant to s. 18.1 […]
January 27, 2014

FCA upholds “other” Viagra patent decision

Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals v Apotex Inc. [2014 FCA 13] Background This is an appeal of the summary judgment decision of Justice Zinn where he declared a […]
January 23, 2014

Human Antibody Patent Upheld at FC

AbbVie Corporation v Janssen Inc. [2014 FC 55]   Background The action is in respect of a patent directed to human antibodies capable of binding a […]
January 7, 2014

Alcon’s Opthalmic Solution Patent Ruled Invalid in NOC Proceeding

Alcon Canada Inc. v Apotex Inc. [2012 FC 410]   Background The patent at issue is Canadian Patent 2,195,094. The patent is for a topical ophthalmic […]
January 7, 2014

FC Allows Application in Part – Prevents NOC from Issuing

Gilead Sciences Inc. v Canada (Health) [2013 FC 1270] Bristol-Myers Squibb v Canada(Health) [2013 FC 1271] Gilead Sciences Inc. v Canada(Health) [2013 FC 1272]   Background […]
January 7, 2014

Prothonotary Order Upheld – sur-reply not available to Apotex

Pfizer Canada Inc. v Apotex Inc. [2013 FC 1249]   Background This is an appeal of an order by Prothonotary Aalto denying the applicants request to […]
January 6, 2014

Partial Reversal of Evidence Leads to Complicated Evidence Issues

Allergan Inc. v Canada (Health), [2013 FC 1165]   Background The decision is related to a motion pursuant to Rule 312 of the Federal Courts Rules […]
December 23, 2013

PAB Allows Application Despite Examiner’s Rejection Based upon Unpatentable Subject Matter

Re. Patent Application 2,333,184 CD 1345   Background   The patent application at issue is for an automated method of classifying or sorting plant embryos of […]