Raymor Industries Inc. v. Canada (National Research Council)

Raymor Industries Inc. v. Canada (National Research Council)

The Court dismissed plaintiffs' applications to examine the named individuals under Rule 238 and to inspect devices under Rule 249 because the criteria for third‑party examination were not met, the individuals were parties/employees or evidence could be obtained from existing disclosures, and schematics/documents provided sufficient information; the Court ordered the University of Sherbrooke to produce full unredacted documents to a restricted counsel, allowed previously agreed amendment and confidentiality relief, and specified discrete discovery questions to be answered by the parties.

Citation
2008 FC 979
Parties
Plaintiff: Raymor Industries Inc.; Plaintiff; Defendant by Counterclaim: Institut National de Recherche Scientifique; Defendant; Plaintiff by Counterclaim: National Research Council of Canada; Defendant: Benoit Simard; Defendant: Orson Bourne; Defendant: University of Sherbrooke; Defendant: Gervais Soucy
Court
Federal Court
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
29 August 2008
Procedural Posture
Patent Infringement and Invalidity / Motions Concerning Discovery, Inspection, Amendment, Confidentiality and Determination of Objections
Outcome
Motions resolved: plaintiffs' motion to examine individuals and to inspect devices dismissed (with costs against plaintiffs for those motions); plaintiffs' production motion partially allowed only as to unredacted documents from University of Sherbrooke to restricted counsel; University allowed to amend defence and...
Legal Topics
Discovery, Examination for Discovery, Inspection of Property, Production of Documents, Confidentiality Order, Amendment of Pleadings, Determination of Objections, Costs
Source Language
English
Intellectual Property Patent Law Civil Procedure Confidentiality Law Discovery Examination for Discovery Inspection of Property Production of Documents +4 more

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Parties

Raymor Industries Inc.

Plaintiff

Institut National de Recherche Scientifique

Plaintiff; Defendant by Counterclaim

National Research Council of Canada

Defendant; Plaintiff by Counterclaim

Benoit Simard

Defendant

Orson Bourne

Defendant

University of Sherbrooke

Defendant

Gervais Soucy

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Patent Infringement and Invalidity / Motions Concerning Discovery, Inspection, Amendment, Confidentiality and Determination of Objections

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether plaintiffs may examine specified individuals under Rule 238
  2. 2 Whether defendants must produce full unredacted documents under Rule 225
  3. 3 Whether Court should order inspection/sampling/experiments of alleged infringing devices under Rule 249

Ratio Decidendi

The Court dismissed plaintiffs' applications to examine the named individuals under Rule 238 and to inspect devices under Rule 249 because the criteria for third‑party examination were not met, the individuals were parties/employees or evidence could be obtained from existing disclosures, and schematics/documents provided sufficient information; the Court ordered the University of Sherbrooke to produce full unredacted documents to a restricted counsel, allowed previously agreed amendment and confidentiality relief, and specified discrete discovery questions to be answered by the parties.

Court Disposition

Motions resolved: plaintiffs' motion to examine individuals and to inspect devices dismissed (with costs against plaintiffs for those motions); plaintiffs' production motion partially allowed only as to unredacted documents from University of Sherbrooke to restricted counsel; University allowed to amend defence and...

Orders

  • Plaintiffs' motion against NRC seeking leave to examine individuals and for production of documents dismissed with costs to defendants under column III of Tariff B
  • Against University of Sherbrooke plaintiffs' motion dismissed for questioning and fuller production but granted to the extent that University must produce unredacted documents to Laurent Debrun within 30 days as Restricted Access Documents per Gauthier J.'s April 18, 2008 order; University awarded one set of costs...