Publications
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Amendments to the categories of contracts covered by the exemptions to the obligation of an insurer to assume an insured’s defence—the Regulation to come into force
On April 20, 2022, the government issued Order in Council 656-2022, which makes significant amendments to the Regulation respecting categories of insurance contracts and classes of insureds that may derogate from the rules of articles 2500 and 2503 (the “Regulation”). The original version of the (…)
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Celebrating youth innovation!
This year’s World IP Day is upon us, with the theme “IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future”. In honor of this theme (and at the risk of making our adult readers feel a bit less accomplished), we thought it would be appropriate to highlight some of these wonderful inventions of young, (…)
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Autonomous vehicles: insurances, responsibilitie and news
The pandemic has not slowed down the arrival of self-driving vehicles on our roads. This technological advancement is becoming more and more commonplace, giving rise to a need for deep reflection, especially in the automobile insurance industry. The AMF issue paper On October 20, 2021, the (…)
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Improved Protection of Trainees in the Workplace: Key Points
On February 24, Bill 14, An Act to ensure the Protection of Trainees in the workplace (hereinafter the “Act”), received assent. The purpose of this Act is to provide better protection for people completing a training in a workplace. For this reason, it contains several provisions similar to those (…)
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Federal Budget 2022: Good News for Mining Exploration Compagnies!
On April 7, 2022, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the federal government’s new budget for 2022. This budget includes several tax measures relevant to the mining industry in Canada. The Canadian federal government intends to provide $3.8 billion over eight years to implement Canada’s first (…)
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A dismissed employee’s obligation to mitigate damages in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
Over the years, the Quebec courts have repeatedly stated that dismissed employees have a duty to mitigate the damages they suffer as a result of a dismissal. This obligation, which is now codified in the Civil Code of Québec,1 has been adapted to the circumstances of the cases over which the courts (…)
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One Out of Five Critical Illness Insurance Claims Are Denied: Which Changes Should Insurers Make?
The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has recently published a study that it conducted with the largest active insurers in the Quebec insurance industry, entitled “Critical Illness Insurance Supervisory Report”1 (hereafter the “Report”).The study reveals surprising statistics that have led the (…)
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Self-insurance: possible if in accordance with the Insurers Act
Introduction There are multiple insurance policies available on the market to protect your property in Quebec. But how well do you know all your options? In 2016, we addressed peer-to-peer insurance, which is essentially a community of users wanting to insure similar goods and services together.1 (…)
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Doing Business as Usual – Prior User Rights Under Canadian Patent Law
Prior user rights have long been recognized in Canadian patent law. These rights, which are a defence against patent infringement, are seen as a means of ensuring fairness by allowing a person who has independently manufactured, used or acquired an invention that is subsequently patented to continue (…)
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The Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision in Prelco: The Application of Limitation of Liability Clauses in Case of a Breach of a Fundamental Obligation of a Contract
Introduction Non-liability clauses are often included in many types of contracts. In principle, they are valid and used to limit (limitation of liability clause) or eliminate (exoneration clause) the liability of a party with respect to its obligations contained in a contract. The recent unanimous (…)
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Can an Idea, Style or Method Be Protected Under the Copyright Act?
Ahead of the 2021 holiday season, as children dream about the toys that Santa Claus will bring them, let’s take a look back at a landmark decision that reviews what is copyrightable under the Copyright Act. As visual artist Claude Bouchard (“Bouchard”) learned from the outcome of her legal action (…)
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A False Sense of Cybersecurity?
Ransomware has wreaked so much havoc in recent years that many people forget about other cybersecurity risks. For some, not storing personal information makes them feeling immune to hackers and cyber incidents. For others, as long as their computers are working, they do not feel exposed to no (…)
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Do you know your open-source licences?
Do you have the right to copy source code written and developed by someone else? The answer to this question depends on the situation; however, even in the context of open innovation, intellectual property rights will be the starting point for any analysis required to obtain such an answer. In the (…)