Publications

November 7, 2019

5 keys to successfully sell your franchise system

Though it doesn’t happen often, some franchisors start a franchise system with the goal of selling it in the short or medium term. However, the quality of the infrastructure required to build a viable franchise system and the amount of resources (financial or other) that need to be invested over (…)

November 5, 2019

What can be done to discipline a manager? Potential solutions to keep in mind

Except in cases of “serious misconduct,” managing a manager whose performance is unsatisfactory or whose conduct is inappropriate can be delicate. Because of workplace usage and practices in Quebec, disciplinary management of managers differs from that applied to other employees of the company. (…)

October 31, 2019

Estoppel based on patent prosecution history in Canada: The Pandora’s box is opened

Nearly twenty years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada1 rejected the theory of estoppel based on a patent’s prosecution history, more commonly known as "file wrapper estoppel"2). At the time, Justice Binnie wrote, “[…]purposive construction, which keeps the focus on the language of the claims, seems (…)

October 29, 2019

Bill 37: What changes can be expected for Public Contracts?

On September 18, 2019, the Minister Responsible for Government Administration and Chair of the Conseil du trésor introduced Bill 37, An Act mainly to establish the Centre d’acquisitions gouvernementales et Infrastructures technologiques Québec1 As its name suggests, this bill is intended to (…)

October 25, 2019

Changes to the Canadian Patent Rules came into force on October 30^th 2019

The new Patent Rules, as well as certain amendments to the Patent Act, came into force on October 30, 2019. These changes implement the Patent Law Treaty and reduce the risk to applicants of a loss of rights but also bring about practice changes worthy of mention. Canadian national phase of a PCT (…)

October 24, 2019

Right to Privacy: Can the Employer conduct Surveillance?

On October 3, the Court of Appeal of Quebec overturned an arbitral decision in which videotaped surveillance of an employee, suspected of activities incompatible with her alleged disability, would not be admitted into evidence. The majority of the appeal court judges concluded that the employer was (…)

October 11, 2019

Insurers’ Duty to Defend: The Court of Appeal makes a new ruling

The Court of Appeal of Quebec was once again called upon to rule on a Wellington type application aiming to force an insurer to defend its insureds1. Over the years, the scope of this duty has developed extensively in case law. In this particular case, the Court ordered that defence costs be (…)

October 8, 2019

Neural Network and Liability: When the information lies in Hidden Layers

Many of the most advanced machine-learning techniques rely on artificial neural networks, which allow systems to "learn" tasks by considering examples, without being programmed specifically to perform those tasks. Neural networks are nothing new, however the emergence of deep learning1, and of (…)

October 3, 2019

Autonomous Air Vehicles : Are they at the gates of our cities?

For many years now, we have been discussing the arrival of autonomous vehicles on Quebec roads. Thus, in April 2018, the government amended the Highway Safety Code1 to adapt it to the particularities of these new vehicles However, the automotive sector is not the only one being transformed by (…)

September 24, 2019

New Compensation Method: Employee Benefit Trust Replacing Stock Option Plans

Nowadays, many employers are seeking out forms of compensation that will help motivate and retain key employees. More and more, employers are opting for one of a variety of company stock ownership profit-sharing plans to reach this objective. Employers who wish to implement this type of structure (…)

August 27, 2019

Duty of Loyalty and Non-competition: What are your Rights and Duties to Protect your Interests?

During Major Symposium in Montréal held on June 4, our colleagues Michel Desrosiers and Ariane Villemaire discussed the employees’ duty of loyalty under the Civil Code of Québec. In their presentation, they discussed the case of Xit Télécom Inc. and Madysta Constructions Ltée v. Beaumier et al.1 on (…)

August 13, 2019

Conclusion of the Supervac 2000 saga: Dismissal is part of the inherent risks of a workplace

The Administrative Labour Tribunal (“ALT”) has ruled on the merits of the Supervac 20001 case, putting an end to the saga dealing with interpreting the part of section 326 of the Act respecting Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases (“AIAOD”) that concerns applications for transfer of costs (…)

August 6, 2019

The Court of Appeal hands down its decision in the Kativik case: A second chance for poor performance employees?

Does an employer have to make reasonable efforts to reassign an employee to another suitable position before proceeding to dismissal due to poor performance? This issue has been the cause of a great jurisprudential controversy, especially since the Superior Court rendered its decision in Kativik1.  (…)