Publications

October 31, 2022

Cybersecurity and the dangers of the Internet of Things

While the Canadian government has said it intends to pass legislation dealing with cybersecurity (see Bill C-26 to enact the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act), many companies have already taken significant steps to protect their IT infrastructure. However, the Internet of Things is too often (…)

October 19, 2022

Canadian Patents: Federal Court confirms that the PM(NOC) Regulations provide a patent enforcement mechanism only in relation to products that are in fact available to Canadians

In a recent Federal Court decision, Justice Fothergill dismissed AbbVie’s applications for judicial review of the following decisions of the Minister of Health (the “Minister”): that JAMP was not a “second person” for the purposes of s 5(1) of the PM(NOC) Regulations; and to issue NOCs to JAMP for (…)

October 12, 2022

Sales without legal warranty at the buyers’ risk: Clarity is key

On July 15, 2022, Justice François Lebel of the Court of Québec rendered a decision1 confirming that, in the case of the sale of immovable property, a clear and unambiguous exclusion clause, whereby the warranty is waived at the buyer’s risk, results in a break in the chain of title preventing the (…)

September 19, 2022

Authorizations for treatment: the Court of Appeal rules on the legal representation of patients and hospitalization and re-hospitalization clauses

In a decision rendered on September 1, 20221, the Court of Appeal of Quebec stated that a judge seized of an application for authorization for treatment must ensure that the patient in question can be heard and assert their rights. The Court also took the opportunity to analyze the indefinite (…)

September 13, 2022

Nurturing ambition: Lavery unveils a new brand image

Today, Lavery unveils its new brand image. This transformation is more than just a visual change; it reflects our desire to drive the growth of organizations that conduct business in Quebec. Imbued with distinctive and current colours, contemporary imagery from a renowned Quebec illustrator and (…)

September 7, 2022

Ten things you should know about the amendments to Quebec’s Charter of the French language

Quebec recently enacted Bill 96, entitled An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, which aims to overhaul the Charter of the French language. Here are 10 key changes in this law that will impose significant obligations on businesses: As of June 1, 2025, businesses (…)

August 31, 2022

The Supreme Court examines the notion of abuse of process in the case of inordinate delay in administrative and disciplinary proceedings

The Supreme Court recently considered, in the Law Society of Saskatchewan v. Abrametz1 decision, the applicable test to determine whether a delay is inordinate and constitutes an abuse of process that could lead to a stay of administrative proceedings. In this case, a Saskatchewan lawyer requested (…)

August 3, 2022

Kickstarting Examination in View of Upcoming Changes to Canadian Patenting Practice

As we reported earlier, the Canadian government published proposed amendments to the Patent Rules in July 2021, to further streamline Canadian patent examination to pave the way for a future patent term adjustment (PTA) system in Canada as per the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), as (…)

July 14, 2022

Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations: Impact on Businesses

On June 20, 2022, the federal government registered regulations that, as the name implies, prohibit (or restrict, in some cases) the manufacture, import and sale of certain single-use plastics that pose a threat to the environment. The Regulations will come into force on December 20, 2022, with the (…)

July 7, 2022

Amendments to the Charter of the French Language: Impacts on the Insurance Sector

Bill 96 – An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec (the “Act”) - was adopted on May 12, 2022 and assented to on June 1, 2022, its effective date. Certain provisions are already in force; for other provisions, a transitional period ranging from several months to three (…)

June 14, 2022

Confinement in an institution: a judge must intervene where evidence is insufficient

In a judgement rendered on June 3, 2022,1 the Court of Appeal of Quebec reiterated that a judge who has an application for confinement in an institution before them must inform the parties when they consider that the psychiatric reports filed are insufficiently detailed. In these circumstances, the (…)

May 9, 2022

Trademarks and Charter of the French language: What can you expect from Bill 96?

On May 13, 2021, the Quebec government introduced Bill 96 to amend the Charter of the French language (the “Charter”) to strengthen the provisions regarding the use of French, particularly with respect to the language of commerce and business. This bill has been thoroughly reviewed in parliamentary (…)

May 5, 2022

Telework: Better Safe

Telework is not a new phenomenon. According to the International Labour Organization, its rise dates back to the 1970s when a major oil crisis prompted many companies to keep their employees at home to reduce their energy consumption1. That said, since the Covid pandemic, teleworking has become (…)