Summary

March 22, 2023
Photograph of two inventors wearing lab coats in a scientific laboratory. The nearest inventor is looking into a microscope. There are beakers on the counter beside her.

Federal Court Allows Addition of Third Inventor to Two Patents

2023 FC 115: The Court found that the omission of the third inventor was a result of inadvertence, rather than delay, and allowed the correction.
February 9, 2023
Side view of a gray housecat's head against a plain gray background.

FCA Upholds Refusal to Grant “procat” Trademark

2023 FCA 4: The prefix "pro" did little to make Puma's "procat" mark distinctive over Caterpillar's CAT & Triangle Design.
January 20, 2023
Photograph of assorted blister packs containing pharmaceuticals in pill form.

Past Conduct Deemed Relevant to Infringement in ANDA Proceedings

CAFC No. 22-1595: In this precedential decision on induced infringement, the Federal Circuit clarified that “past conduct is relevant to what will happen in the future”.
December 22, 2022
circuit board

Federal Circuit Applies Collateral Estoppel in IPR Proceedings

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that dependent claims invalidated by collateral estoppel also invalidated the parental independent claim.
November 29, 2022
Photograph of a hand holding a calculator and performing financial calculations.

Canada’s Highest Court Upholds $644M Award for Patent Infringement

2022 SCC 43: The Supreme Court of Canada handed down a decision that awards Dow Chemical $644 million—the largest monetary offering in a Canadian patent lawsuit.
October 25, 2022
Cartoon image of a hand emerging from the screen of a laptop to pluck a dollar bill from the hands of a tiny man.

Christian Varin Sentenced to 5 Years for Defrauding Canadian Inventors

2022 QCCQ 6675: Operating as "Fédération des Inventors du Québec", Varin offered to protect inventions but never filed a single patent application at CIPO.
August 18, 2022
A thermometer is shown on a pile of pharmaceutical pills.

Selection Patent for Apixaban Upheld by Federal Court of Appeal

2022 FCA 142: The Court also commented on the relevant date for determining if an invention has been sufficiently described in the patent application.
June 30, 2022
Photograph of a silhouette of a pumpjack in an oil field.

Inventor Fails to Extract a Win on Appeal Against Oil Producer MEG

2022 FCA 118: The appeal court saw no reason to interfere with a trial court decision that favoured MEG Energy in its ongoing patent dispute with inventor Jason Swist.
May 30, 2022
Photograph of a seedling plant sprouting in the soil.

Federal Court of Canada Squashes Contempt of Court Claim

In 2021, the Federal Court found GreenBlue infringed Deeproot's patents and granted an injunction. In 2022, the court was unconvinced that GreenBlue violated the injunction.
May 12, 2022
Engineer at an oil refinery inspects centrifuge equipment.

Federal Circuit Narrows Application of the Experimental Use Exception

Under the “on-sale bar”, privately offering to sell an invention before filing a patent application can void the patent rights in all but a few permissible scenarios.
April 20, 2022
Photograph of a doctor holding out small white pills

Data Protections Once Again Prevent Médunik From Launching Pediatric Drug

The Federal Court disagreed with Health Canada's interpretation of data protection regulations, once again reversing approval of pediatric drug RUZURGI.
April 11, 2022
Photograph of a beer tap in a bar showing the brewer's trademark on the label.

Cowbells Brewing Taps Out: Ontario Brewer Denied Rights to Bell Trademark

New trademark registrations can be opposed by business owners who are concerned that the mark would cause confusion with their own registered trademark.
March 7, 2022
A photo of two TSA-approved luggage locks bearing the red Travel Sentry logo.

Maker of Travel Locks Fails to Revive Patents on Appeal

Travel Sentry, Inc. v David A. Tropp, No. 2021-1908 (Fed. Cir., Feb. 14, 2022). The patents claimed an economic practice and method of organizing human activity, which is not subject-matter that can be protected under the patent system.
February 24, 2022
Photograph of a computer user typing on a laptop

Courts Must Consider Patent Examiner’s Interpretation of Claims

The US CAFC ruled that an examiner is a "person of ordinary skill in the art" and is owed an appropriate level of deference.
February 3, 2022
A photo of an iPhone screen showing an icon to launch the Google app.

Google’s AdWords Defeats Competitor’s Patent Infringement Claim

Canada's Federal Court dismissed allegations by Paid Search Engine that Google infringed a patent for optimizing paid search engines.
January 27, 2022
A photo of a pumpjack for mining oil in the Canadian prairies.

Prior Use Defence Argued by Mining Supplier in Patent Infringement Case

The prior use defence allows a business to continue activities that would otherwise be patent infringement, if the activities pre-date the filing date of the patent.
January 24, 2022
Photo of a pharmacist holding out a yellow pill in one hand and a white pill in another hand. A patient reaches for the yellow pill.

Teva Blocks Competitor With Patent for 40 mg/mL Dose of Copaxone®

Outside Canada, Teva’s Copaxone® 40mg/mL dosing patents have been invalidated for obviousness, making way for generic competitors.
January 13, 2022
Researcher looking into a microscope in a laboratory.

Federal Court Allows Correction to Inventorship Amidst “Pending Litigation”

Some of the most common errors made in patent applications are in the naming of applicants and inventors. If the mistake is not caught in time, it can cause a nasty headache for the patent owner.
December 29, 2021
Photograph of the "ZARA" trademark in a sign above a Zara storefront.

Trademark Opposition by Fashion Giant ZARA Remitted to Federal Court

The Federal Court of Appeal held that the trial judge cannot intervene in a trademark opposition decision in the absence of any errors by the Board.
December 14, 2021
Photo of office towers in Toronto's financial district.

Abuse of Process Should Only Be Invoked in the “Clearest of Cases”

Four years after the Federal Court of Appeal denied copyright protection for TRREB's real estate database, the fight to control that data continues.