Abbvie Corporation v Janssen Inc – 2014 FC 178

Janssen brought by way of this motion, an appeal from an order of the Case Management Prothonotary, wherein he ordered that the hearing of the trial respecting an injunction should proceed at a specified date. Janssen seeks to set aside the fixing of the trial date. [1]

Appeal is dismissed.

Janssen argued that the Prothonotary had made an earlier order regarding the trial date and that the Prothonotary could not vary his earlier order except on a motion by one of the parties and then, only in limited circumstances. [8]

In rejecting Janssen’s argument, the Court found that the earlier order of the Prothonotary had not been varied. The Court further stated, in the alternative, that the Case Management Prothonotary has “authority by his or her motion, without the constraints of res judicata, to make or vary an earlier case management Order, in view of the circumstances of the case before him or her at the time, which best serves to bring the matter to a fair trial.” [8]