Case information
Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.
38506
P.S. Knight Co. Ltd., et al. v. Canadian Standards Association
(Federal) (Civil) (By Leave)
Docket
Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-03-10 | Close file on Leave | |
| 2020-03-10 | Correspondence (sent by the Court) to, all parties, Re: certificate of taxation | |
| 2020-03-05 | Certificate of taxation issued to, Mr. Kevin Sartorio | |
| 2020-03-05 | Decision on the bill of costs, in the amount of $1,196.40, DeRg | |
| 2020-03-05 | Submission of the bill of costs, DeRg | |
| 2019-11-20 | Bill of costs, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2019-11-20 | Canadian Standards Association |
| 2019-05-31 | Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties | |
| 2019-05-31 | Judgment on leave sent to the parties | |
| 2019-05-24 | Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties | |
| 2019-05-24 | Judgment on leave sent to the parties | |
| 2019-05-23 |
Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal, Numbers A-90-16 and A-121-16, 2018 FCA 222, dated December 7, 2018, is dismissed with costs. Dismissed, with costs |
|
| 2019-04-01 | All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court | |
| 2019-03-28 | Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-03-28 | P.S. Knight Co. Ltd. |
| 2019-03-18 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) | Canadian Standards Association |
| 2019-03-18 | Notice of name, (Letter Form) | Canadian Standards Association |
| 2019-03-18 | Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-03-18 | Canadian Standards Association |
| 2019-02-14 | Letter acknowledging receipt of an incomplete application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENED 2019/02/14 | |
| 2019-02-05 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) | P.S. Knight Co. Ltd. |
| 2019-02-05 | Notice of name, (Letter Form) | P.S. Knight Co. Ltd. |
| 2019-02-05 | Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), (5 volumes), FCA Orders missing-both rec'd 2019/02/14, Completed on: 2019-02-14 | P.S. Knight Co. Ltd. |
Parties
Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.
Main parties
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| P.S. Knight Co. Ltd. | Applicant | Active |
| Knight, Gordon | Applicant | Active |
v.
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Standards Association | Respondent | Active |
Counsel
Party: P.S. Knight Co. Ltd.
Counsel
Charles Haworth
701 - 375 University Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2J5
Telephone: (416) 203-3641 Ext: 400
FAX: (416) 203-5238
Email: jradnoff@radnofflaw.com
Party: Knight, Gordon
Counsel
Charles Haworth
701 - 375 University Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2J5
Telephone: (416) 203-3641 Ext: 400
FAX: (416) 203-5238
Email: jradnoff@radnofflaw.com
Party: Canadian Standards Association
Counsel
James Green
100 King Street West
Suite 1600
Toronto, Ontario
M5X 1G5
Telephone: (416) 862-4492
FAX: (416) 862-7661
Email: kevin.sartorio@gowlingwlg.com
Agent
160 Elgin Street
Suite 2600
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 786-8695
FAX: (613) 788-3509
Email: lynne.watt@gowlingwlg.com
Summary
Keywords
Intellectual property law — Copyright — Infringement — Crown law — Prerogatives —Legislation — Interpretation — Can copyright subsist in the laws of Canada? — If copyright can subsist in the laws of Canada, can that copyright be privately owned? — If copyright can subsist in the laws of Canada, is that copyright owned by the Crown? — Once a privately copyrighted document is incorporated by reference into the laws of Canada, is that copyright extinguished and/or transferred to the Crown?<br>
Summary
Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.
Canadian Standards Association (“CSA”) is a federal not for profit corporation engaged in developing, testing, and certifying voluntary electrical standards. One of the most important standards is the CSA Electrical Code, which sets out safety standards for installation and maintenance of electrical equipment in Canada. The CSA Electrical Code has been incorporated by reference into several regulations and statutes for the installation and maintenance of electrical equipment. Copyright in the 2015 CSA Electrical Code was registered in April of 2015 in favour of the CSA. P.S. Knight Co. is a commercial competitor of the CSA. It has published the Electrical Code Simplified since the 1960s, including references with attribution to the CSA Electrical Code. A strong working relationship between the two groups began to deteriorate after a 2004 offer from the CSA to purchase Knight Co was rejected. In 2010 the CSA wrote to Knight Co. to inform it that any licence that may have existed was terminated. In 2016, Knight Co. reproduced and threatened to distribute a complete and identical copy of the 2015 version of the CSA Electrical Code at one-third the price the CSA charged. As a result, the CSA initiated an application to the Federal Court for copyright infringement. The Federal Court determined that copyright subsists in the 2015 Electrical Code and was owned by CSA. It concluded that Knight Co. infringed CSA’s copyright. A majority of the Federal Court of Appeal agreed with the Federal Court judge with a dissenting opinion on Crown prerogative.
Lower court rulings
Federal Court
T-646-15, 2016 FC 294
Copyright infringement found against Knight Co.
Federal Court of Appeal
2018 FCA 222, A-90-16, A-121-16
Appeal dismissed. Webb J.A. dissenting on application of Crown prerogative.
Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal
The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filing out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.
Downloadable PDFs
Not available
Related links
Factums on appeal
The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.
Downloadable PDFs
Not available