The plaintiff, 1080977 Ontario Inc. operating as Stevans Sales and Marketing, sought leave to continue its action for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, despite having operated for 30 years without registering its business name under the Business Names Act.
The defendants opposed, arguing the failure to register was not inadvertent and that they were misled.
The court granted leave, finding the failure to register was inadvertent, there was no evidence the public was deceived, and the plaintiff had since registered the name.
The court also noted a residual discretion to grant leave to prevent an unfair outcome, emphasizing that denying leave would be a disproportionate punishment for a technical breach, especially given the underlying dispute was about unpaid invoices for goods and services received.
