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The Federal Court has awarded damages of US$128,500 and granted a permanent injunction in a trademark dispute relating to dry cleaning services.
Pleadings define each party’s case. They frame the litigation and set out the material facts said to support the causes of action or defences presented. A party may move to strike an opposing pleading where it fails to disclose a reasonable cause of action or a tenable defence.
The Federal Court has ruled that misuse of copyright remains a novel but arguable defence to copyright infringement claims, rejecting arguments that the Supreme Court of Canada has already ruled out the doctrine in Canada.
A sticky situation has arisen in Quebec as two communities have tapped themselves as the maple capital of the world. Plessisville, recognized as the Capitale mondiale de l’Érable (World Maple Capital), is a town located in the L’Érable (Maple) Regional County Municipality and claims to have used its maple moniker for more than 50 years, including registering it as an official mark in 1993. That worked sweetly until Mirabel, a suburb in the North Shore of Montréal, also obtained an official mark designating itself as the Capitale internationale de l’Érable (International Maple Capital) at the turn of 2026.
Dickinson Wright has announced that Dave Stern and Corey Hock have joined its Toronto office. Stern joins as a partner and Hock as of counsel.
The Supreme Court’s controversial Jordan decision, which has sparked the dismissal of thousands of cases due to unconstitutional trial delay, is still good law, but stays of proceedings are not a cure for undue systemic trial delay, Canada’s top judge says. “One stay of proceedings is too many,” Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner stressed at his annual press conference in Ottawa June 9.
Yukon’s Supreme Court has issued a directive on the use of generative AI “in written and oral representations” in a bid to reinforce the “integrity and credibility of legal proceedings.”
When a Canadian court or tribunal finds that a party has relied on a case that does not exist, the consequence is far from uniform. In one decision, the lawyer responsible was ordered to pay $17,550 in costs personally. In another, the order was $100. In 60 of the 177 decisions we reviewed, the adjudicator identified the problem but imposed no consequence at all.
The federal government’s new national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy indicates that legislative and regulatory changes are coming to facilitate Canada’s transformation into an AI leader among mid-sized nations, while also protecting the privacy and security of Canadians and businesses, as well as the country’s sovereignty.
As Ontario’s innovation ecosystem becomes increasingly competitive and technology-driven, intellectual property (IP) has emerged as a critical business asset rather than merely a legal consideration. While many companies invest heavily in product development, software, branding and research, relatively few take proactive steps to identify, protect and commercialize the intangible assets they create.