Publications

December 14, 2020

Use of patents in artificial intelligence: What does the new CIPO report say?

Artificial intelligence is one of the areas of technology where there is currently the most research and development in Canada. To preserve Canada's advantageous position in this area, it is important to consider all forms of intellectual property protection that may apply. Although copyright has (…)

December 11, 2020

Teleworking: What are the allowable expenses for employees and tax impacts for employers?

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed Canadian workplaces. For many organizations, the pandemic and its containment measures have fast-tracked the shift to teleworking.  In this context, the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) and the Agence du Revenu du Québec (the“ARQ”) have published administrative (…)

October 29, 2020

Canadian Patents: What to Keep in Mind One Year After the Coming into Force of the New Rules?

The first anniversary of the entry into force of the new Canadian Patent Rules, which significantly changed certain practices surrounding the filing and prosecution of patent applications in Canada, is an opportunity to look back at the major changes that have had a significant impact on Canadian (…)

September 11, 2020

An introduction to Trade Secrets: What they are and why they matter to your business

One of the most common questions we receive as intellectual property lawyers is “How can I prevent others from using technology that I have developed and that has significant value to my business?” That question can often be answered by advising clients to file a patent application. However, there (…)

August 31, 2020

Federal Court clarifies the assessment of patent-eligible subject matter in Canada

In Yves Choueifaty v. Attorney General of Canada1, the Federal Court of Canada has issued a significant decision concerning the assessment of patent-eligible subject matter, including the approach to be used for such assessment during the examination of Canadian patent applications. Historical (…)

August 10, 2020

Intellectual Property: New Options for Patent Ownership Disputes

Since 1995, the Federal Court of Canada has refused to hear questions relating solely to patent ownership. In Lawther v. 424470 B.C. Ltd.1 the Federal Court declined jurisdiction, stating that “[t]his Court has no jurisdiction to entertain a dispute which is solely a matter of contract”, thereby (…)

July 16, 2020

Further COVID-19 Update on Canadian IP

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has now made a further announcement concerning the extension of deadlines, to the effect that  deadlines falling within March 16 to August 7, 2020, are extended to August 10, 2020. CIPO is otherwise still open for business and our IP team members (…)

June 5, 2020

Improving Cybersecurity with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

New challenges The appearance of COVID-19 disrupted the operations of many companies. Some had to initiate work from home. Others were forced to quickly set up online services. This accelerated transition has made cybersecurity vitally important, particularly considering the personal information (…)

May 29, 2020

Natural Products and Pharmaceutical Innovations: What are the Patent Options?

Natural products play an important role in pharmaceutical innovation. They are active components in many medicines. For example, nearly half of the small molecules used to treat cancer are natural products or directly derived from natural products.1 They are also components of vaccines. The (…)

May 21, 2020

E-commerce: Protecting Your Work

As distribution channels with a global reach, websites are a powerful tool for doing business, and during the pandemic, they even play a critical role. A website consists of a set of webpages accessible from an address hosted on a server through the internet or an intranet. A website is a (…)

March 18, 2020

COVID-19: Update on Canadian IP

 The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has made a further announcement concerning the extension of deadlines, to the effect that deadlines falling within March 16 to April 30, 2020 are extended to May 1, 2020. CIPO is otherwise still open for business and our intellectual property team (…)

March 13, 2020

The 2020-2021 Quebec Budget: New Measures to Promote Innovation!

Quebec’s Minister of Finance tabled his budget for 2020-2021, titled Your Future, your Budget1, on March 10. Among the new measures introduced by the government, new tax incentives for innovation and the commercialization of Quebec intellectual property were announced. The incentive deduction for (…)

January 14, 2020

Are you protected against phishing email?
What the Court of Appeal said in insurance matters

Phishing fraud is a rampant problem that causes major losses throughout the world. It consists in bad actors sending emails in which they falsely claim to be a trusted third party or legitimate company in order to obtain confidential information from the recipient for the purpose of committing (…)