Intellectual Property
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October 06, 2025
Supreme Court to clarify patentability of methods of medical treatment
After over a decade, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear a pharmaceutical patent case: Pharmascience Inc. v. Janssen Inc., et al. The case concerns the patentability of methods of medical treatment, an area of law that the courts have been grappling with for many years. The Supreme Court is set to determine whether dosing regimens fall within the statutory definition of “invention” of the Patent Act or remain unpatentable subject matter.
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October 03, 2025
G7 summit discusses competition issues related to algorithmic pricing
Canada hosted the G7 Competition Authorities and Policymakers’ Summit in Ottawa, which concluded Oct. 2, with discussions on digital competition, with a particular focus on algorithmic pricing and its impacts on competition, markets and the economy.
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October 03, 2025
Canadian Intellectual Property Office rules AI cannot be inventor: The DABUS decision
On June 5, 2025, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s commissioner of patents ruled that Stephen Thaler’s Canadian patent application No. 3,137,161 was refused. The application, which is titled “Food Container and Devices and Methods for Attracting Enhanced Attention,” listed as its inventor DABUS (Device for Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience), an artificial intelligence model created by Thaler.
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October 02, 2025
Line crossed: IRCC’s proposed administrative monetary penalties should alarm all Canadian bars
The federal government is quietly implementing a regulatory framework that should alarm every lawyer in Canada, regardless of practice area. Under the guise of addressing immigration “ghost consultants,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has crafted administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) that grant it unprecedented authority to discipline lawyers — the same lawyers who routinely challenge that department’s decisions in court.
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October 01, 2025
Sustainable popcorn under the spotlight
The popcorn industry, like many areas within the food sector, is increasingly coming under legal scrutiny for its sustainability practices. With evolving consumer assumptions and desires along with tightening governmental policies, businesses involved in everything from production to packaging of popcorn are facing new legal requirements and expectations. This piece explores the legal landscape as it relates to sustainability within the popcorn industry in Canada, highlighting key regulatory frameworks, environmental challenges and compliance strategies.
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September 26, 2025
Ontario opening of the courts ceremony highlights digitization, reform of Rules of Civil Procedure
On Sept. 25, judges, attorneys general, leaders of law associations and others met for Ontario’s opening of the courts ceremony, discussing various strategies that have been and will be undertaken to improve access to justice. This included digitization and reformation of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
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September 24, 2025
Big Tech’s online ad dominance, personal data circulation pose security risks: report
The dominance of U.S. tech giants in Canada’s online advertising market and the unchecked circulation of Canadians’ data pose national security risks, a new report warns.
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September 22, 2025
Federal regulators warn of privacy, copyright risks from AI-generated media
Canadian regulators are concerned that the rapid spread of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated synthetic media could increase the spread of disinformation and deceptive content, erode privacy and raise issues of copyright ownership and use.
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September 22, 2025
CIVIL PROCEDURE - Parties - Class or representative actions - Certification - Definition of class
Appeal by Doan from order of Federal Court dismissing her motion to certify the underlying action as a class proceeding. In the underlying action, Doan alleged that Clearview engaged in widespread copyright infringement and violations of moral rights by collecting, copying and storing images of human faces taken in Canada without the consent of the individuals who took the images or who hold copyright and/or moral rights in those images.
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September 19, 2025
Osler adds Mat Brechtel to IP group in Vancouver
Osler has welcomed Mat Brechtel to its intellectual property practice group as a partner in the Vancouver office.