Nicole Mantini

The defendant brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff's claim that it held a perpetual and exclusive right to own, operate, and collect tolls from a viable international border crossing in the vicinity of the Ambassador Bridge.

The plaintiff sought declarations of rights granted under the Canadian Transit Company Act and, alternatively, compensation for infringement and expropriation.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the interpretation of the statutory franchise rights granted under the CTC Act, including whether implicit rights of exclusivity were conferred, raised a genuine issue requiring trial.

The plaintiff brought a motion to certify a class action against the defendants, alleging that their glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup, causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The court analyzed the five certification criteria under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

While the court struck the proposed causes of action for battery and unjust enrichment, it found that the pleadings disclosed a valid cause of action in negligence and failure to warn.

The court approved the proposed class definition, certified several common issues including general causation and punitive damages, and concluded that a class proceeding was the preferable procedure.

The action was certified as a class proceeding.

The appellant infringed a patent held by the respondents for metallocene linear low-density polyethylenes (thin but strong plastics).

Following a liability finding, a reference judge awarded the respondents an accounting of profits equal to the appellant's actual revenue minus actual full costs, and also awarded springboard profits — profits earned post-patent-expiry causally attributable to infringement during the patent period.

The majority dismissed the appeal, holding that an accounting of profits requires disgorgement of all profits causally attributable to the invention using a three-step framework; the appellant's concession that no non-infringing option existed precluded reduction of the award; and springboard profits are legally permissible and factually supported.

Côté J. dissented, arguing the differential profit approach should have been available and the matter remitted to the Federal Court.

The plaintiffs sought judicial approval of a $25 million settlement in two pharmaceutical class actions alleging that the diabetes drug PIO caused bladder cancer and that the defendants failed to warn of this risk.

The court initially raised concerns about the settlement amount compared to a $2.4 billion U.S. settlement, but approved it after class counsel provided evidence of recent scientific studies undermining causation and differences in market size and litigation risk.

The court also approved class counsel's 30% contingency fee and awarded a reduced honorarium of $1,500 to each representative plaintiff.

The plaintiffs moved to certify a proposed class proceeding arising from alleged respiratory injuries following administration of Taxotere during breast cancer treatment at a hospital.

Certification was refused because the amended statement of claim did not adequately plead material facts supporting negligence, fiduciary duty, contract, misrepresentation, or failure to warn, and because the proposed class definition was vague and overbroad.

The court held that causation, duty, standard of care, warning, and damages issues were inherently individual and lacked a workable class-wide methodology.

Given the limited number of potential claimants and the predominance of individualized malpractice issues, a class action was not the preferable procedure and the litigation plan was unworkable.

On a motion for directions in an application concerning settlement agreements related to the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit, the moving parties sought broad documentary production from the federal government.

The court addressed disputes over the scope of relevance and proportionality in documentary disclosure within an application proceeding.

The court held that production must be limited to documents relevant and probative to interpreting the settlement agreements and their alleged ongoing obligations, rejecting requests for expansive historical government policy and legislative background materials.

The court provided guidance on specific document categories, directed the parties to exchange lists of litigation records from prior Canadian and U.S. proceedings, and required further review of settlement negotiation materials.

Directions were also given to narrow issues, schedule cross-examinations, and coordinate related proceedings.

The appeal concerned whether retail Internet service providers, when providing end-users with Internet access to requested programming, carry on broadcasting undertakings under the Broadcasting Act.

The court held that the statutory terms, read in light of the Act’s language and policy objectives, do not capture entities that merely provide a transmission mode without selecting, originating, or packaging content.

Prior authorities on transmission and conduit functions were treated as consistent with this interpretation, while precedent involving content control by cable licensees was distinguished.

The appeal was dismissed, confirming that access-providing Internet service providers are not broadcasting undertakings in this context.