Release of the Federal Budget, 2021

On Monday, April 19, 2021, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, released the first official budget in the past two years, titled, Federal Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience (the “Budget”).  The Budget proposed over $100 billion in spending, and, among the more significant measures, the Budget proposes extending …

Financial Product Differentiation Using Patents – A Canadian Example (Part 2)

As I mentioned in my previous post, quant and TOBAM funder Yves Choueifaty’s journey towards securing a Canadian patent for his process of constructing “anti-benchmark” securities portfolios has not been easy. But first, a quick detour.  Many companies have secured Canadian financial system patents.  For example: TD-Bank: 36 patents in block chain, machine learning, recommendations, …

Financial Product Differentiation Using Patents – A Canadian Example (Part 1)

Lightbulbs, bike gears, corkscrews, drilling rigs, TV towers, computer chips, medicine, and cleaning supplies.  That’s the kind of stuff patents are for, right?  Patents are only applied-for by those white-coated toilers frowning at lab benches, by those strange tinkerers in their dusty garages, and by those hoody-clad Silicon Valley campus-dwellers carting their chaotic circuit boards, …

Critical Ontario Appeal Decision on Preservation of Property

Preservation of property during litigation is dealt with under rule 45 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure. The traditional test under rule 45 was designed for situations where the thing being preserved was the subject of the litigation, such as an asset over which ownership was disputed. This test was not appropriate for all …

SUB-PAR CLAIM: FRANCHISEE’S BEEF WITH SUPPLIER LEAVES BAD TASTE

Highlights In general, a supplier’s obligation is to ensure the safety of its goods to the end consumer. A supplier does not owe a duty of care to other commercial parties in a supply chain. Courts are reluctant to recognize that commercial parties in a chain of contracts are provided additional rights outside of a …

UPDATE (March 1, 2021) – New COVID-19 Public Health Measures in Effect in Ontario

On March 1, 2021, new public health measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 went into effect in Ontario. These measures represent the Government of Ontario moving multiple public health regions to new levels of its COVID-19 Response Framework. Simcoe Muskoka District and Thunder Bay District move back to the grey zone (lockdown) due to …

Security for Costs

Security For Costs Explained As discussed in Volume 1, Number 4, an unsuccessful party at trial is generally required to pay 60 percent of the successful party’s legal fees.  Thus, if the successful party incurred costs of $100,000, the unsuccessful party is responsible to pay the successful party $60,000, in addition to paying his own …

Limitation Periods

Given the ongoing pandemic, many purchasers are unable to pay their vendors for products they received. Many vendors have tried their best to accommodate these purchasers by delaying payment dates or entering into payment plans. But what happens if the purchaser never pays? How much time does the vendor have to sue the purchaser for …

Federal Government Proposes Overhauling Canada’s Rules for Corporate Consumer Privacy Measures

Introduction On November 17, 2020, Canada’s federal government introduced a bill to enact new legislation to strengthen protections for individuals from privacy loss due to the failures and limitations of corporate consumer privacy measures. The proposed legislation, known as the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (“CPPA”), would be the first major overhaul of Canada’s privacy law …