Patently Absurd, Episode 16: More Quarter-century case law review, discovery in patent cases, and patent rights in the age of tariffs

Join Torys' intellectual property lawyers for an informal discussion on all aspects of patent law. We’ll be analyzing the old, the new—and most definitely the absurd—in candid conversation, all while taking questions from the audience and welcoming special guests along the way.

Episode 16: More Quarter-century case law review, discovery in patent cases, and patent rights in the age of tariffs

In our second installment of Patently Absurd for 2025, Niki and Andy will continue their discussion of the most influential patent cases of the past 25 years. In this session, they will present their ‘bracket’ for the top eight cases and pit two pairs of these cases against one another for advancement to our December playoff.

• Free World Trust v Électro Santé Inc, 2000 SCC 66, (“Free World Trust”)/Whirlpool Corp v Camco Inc, 2000 SCC 67 (“Whirlpool”) v. Harvard College v Canada (Commissioner of Patents), 2002 SCC 76 (“Harvard Mouse”)
• Apotex Inc v Sanofi-Synthelabo Canada Inc, 2008 SCC 61 (“Sanofi”) v. AstraZeneca Canada Inc v Apotex Inc, 2017 SCC 36 (“Promise Doctrine”)

Niki and Andy will also discuss the recent proposals relating to discovery rules reform in the Ontario courts and the role of discovery (and discovery motions) in Canadian patent cases. 

Finally, they will be joined by Richard Gold, Professor and Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy at McGill University to talk about how US/Canadian relations may affect patent owners in Canada. 

Something Old: Quarter-century case law review: Top eight face off
Something New: Discovery in patent cases in Canada
Something Borrowed: Impacts of tariffs on Canadian patent holders

This session will be presented in English.

Time: 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. ET Presentation
8:45 a.m. ET Webinar opens

Ontario: This program is eligible for 60 Substantive minutes.

Be sure to check out the other sessions in this series over at torys.com/webinars.