Intellectual Property
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October 07, 2025
Attorney General Sean Fraser tells SCC the law needs to protect people with ‘no voice’
There was a celebratory mood at the opening ceremony for the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2025-26 court year, but Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser and other legal leaders delivered a sober message to the Ottawa courtroom packed with lawyers and judges.
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October 07, 2025
Prevalence of AI hallucinations in the legal context
When it comes to legal research and the use of generative AI, the amount of false information being generated is alarming. However, the data varies depending on the study, the AI tools analyzed and how AI hallucinations manifest.
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October 07, 2025
Lawyer ordered to pay costs for non-disclosure of gen AI use and citing fake precedents in court
In a cautionary case for litigation lawyers who use generative artificial intelligence (AI) for court submissions, a Federal Court associate judge recently hit an immigration lawyer with personal costs for submitting two defective AI-generated precedents and for breaching the Federal Court’s requirement to disclose any generative AI use in court filings.
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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.